Calling The Spartan Legions
by KILLERm12
Summary: "After a long war against a relentless alien race, humanity is now experiencing a time of peace and reconstruction. However, nothing is as it seems. New threats present themselves, corruption and insurgency rises. Will history repeat itself?" Combines the heavy canon behind Star Wars, Mass Effect, and Halo, with appearances from some of your favorite characters.
1. Chapter 1

- ** _Author's Notes_** :

I'm Back!

Now This is a True Fan Fiction!

Be prepared for some major story re-writes to include the large canons of Halo, Mass Effect, and Star Wars. Sorry for being AFK this long, college has been a real bummer. I'll do my best to keep posting chapters.

Certain chapters are undergoing rewrites, and Chapter 6 is still in the works.

-Enjoy

* * *

 **Chapter 1:** **The Dawn of a Tale**

The night was dark and damp in the skies of a certain city on a certain alien planet. The buildings were dark, drab, and a variant of Art Deco. From a faraway view, they looked simply like black silhouettes against the gray foggy night sky. In the further, just beyond the city, a tether lay, stretching into the firmament of the sky, linking heaven and earth in bold fashion. A thin wire pierced the fog and sky, like a spout, elevating terrestrial contents away from the earth. All throughout the fog, interspersed around the floating traffic that was flowing through it, neon glows of color consumed and illuminated spaces around the cars and buildings they emanated from. This created a dazzling light show, containing blurred orbs of color dancing around each other and around the dark towers of shadow. The only real color that night came from the neon lights glowing in the gray foggy sky. There was an ever persistent fog over this continent after two consecutive terraforming sessions. Luckily, the rain had stopped about an hour ago, however, it looked as though it was going to drizzle soon.

Organized city traffic could be seen hovering about twenty-five stories above on invisible magnetic planes, navigated by busy city dwellers inside their hovercraft. Different levels of invisible highway continued upward at intervals of about five stories from there. Around most of the cars, there was an ever thickening cloud of fog, which worsened as the elevation increased.

The hovercraft, which were still nicknamed cars by the human inhabitants, were made possible by advancement in superconductor technology. Advancement in metal alloy, and the better understanding of wind patterns, allowed buildings to reach unimaginable heights. However, these marvels of engineering, amazing to the novice eye, were just part of the background to the residents, and an eyesore for a certain, roaming blonde woman. On the surface, people went about their depressing day normally and without hesitation.

Amongst the light chaos of the city there was a small road littered with shops, merchants, and a crowd of people. It was one of the many flea market that litter the lower levels of the city. From food to budget electronics, nothing was safe from being sold.

The roaming blonde woman, who was of average height, was navigating the damp streets with a frantic look upon her pretty face. Along a street, on the fringes of the flea market there were several cylinders, about the height of an average person, and lined with neon lights and LED displays. Some were advertisements, and some were news broadcasts. The woman happened to pass a few on her way to the flea market.

"Hello, *static* unknown person, *static* are you a war vet? Are you sick of mistreatment from United Nations' Department of Veteran's Affairs? Have they delayed your timetable for synthetic or stem-cell limb replacement? Have no fear, the Sirta Medical Center, here in New Alexandria, respects your right to live normally. We have a wide range of medical professionals and technologies to rebuild or replace what you lost for a flat price." Said a robotic female voice emanating from the advert cylinder, whilst the LED displayed subtitles and images of limbless and horribly burned individuals, and finally a view of the stark white Medical Center.

"Breaking news today! This is Emily Wong, reporting live. The Insurgency of Allied Colonies launched a terrorist attack against a United Nations dry dock just an hour ago. They have captured the dock on just outside the city of Princeford, on the Planet of Terra Nova, in the Asgard System. This is the third in a recent series of attacks centered around UN military installations, destabilizing the Exodus region even further." Said an asian female in her mid thirties displayed on the screen of the next nearest cylinder, subtitles also included.

"Hey you! Yeah you! *Static* Name unknown *static* I dare you to try out this brand new…" Said an aggressive male voice from another cylinder, promoting a new athletic stimulant.

The blonde woman ignored the cylinders and their annoyances. She walked fast, as they only activated in a person's presence. Entering the market, she was passed by a dark skinned man and his storefront, which boasted rare antiques from Earth, she lengthened her stride as though her feet had discovered a purpose and her legs could barely keep up. She speeded by a priest, who was spouting religious fervor towards a small crowd. He was standing on a small crate with a sign on it reading 'Join the Neo-Christian Stellar-hood!'

"God, in his wisdom, elected four of his angels to represent and rule the four aspects of our universe."

She passed in front of the priest, and his voice increased and decreased with the doppler effect.

"The first Lord's gift to mankind was the tangible, corporeal Universe itself! Praise the blessed Black Lord of the North!" The preacher shouted.

She ignored the priest, and continued walking.

"The Galaxy is ours to take. Especially its intangible and ethereal energy. All of it is ours to harness! Praise the second Lord! Praise the White Lord of the South and the Holy Spirit!"

As her walking speed increased it was clear that she was looking for someone in the crowd. Her breathing shallow and her heart racing, excitement began to sink in.

"We have the sole right to expand throughout the galaxy. The power of faster than light travel is the gift of the Pale Lord of the East, as is Dark Energy, Dark Matter, and the afterlife. As he escorts souls to heaven. Rejoice!"

The city the blonde woman was in, which was no larger than 70 kilometers, was an entire bustling hub rebuilt from rubble within a single year. The city of New Alexandria was a rebuilt and recolonized post-war city. As part of a new construction program in the celestial Colonies, spearheaded by the company ExoGeni, in order to build new economies and infrastructures as aid for civilians and refugees after the wars. People did find it strange that a company that focuses primarily on research would turn their attention to repairing colonial infrastructure, but no one complained. Impressive as it was, like all interesting things, the popularity died quickly. ExoGeni believed if they rebuilt the city fast after its glassing during the first contact war, it would display to the rest of galactic society that the human race were hardy and steadfast, ironically it showed that humans built their cities quickly and cheaply. New Alexandria was a fast-built, post-war, boom city that quickly became a haven for poverty, crime (organized and otherwise), and other human vices.

The blonde woman, who was navigating the street market quite expertly, was wearing standard middle-class clothing for the region, dull and contemporary, to blend in with the crowd. On her face, which had slight aryan qualities, she was wearing some particularly interesting sunglasses. They had a red tint and let out a continuous low hum. The glasses let out an indicating beep, followed by an upward facing arrow in front of her eyes. She jerked her head up, as something then caught her eye on a balcony in her upper left field of view. There was a boy, who was looking down at the street, eyeballing an exotic and delicious looking candy stand. But he was leaning perhaps a little too far over the railing. The blond woman noticed this and predicted the outcome. This however was not what the glasses were indicating. In the background the priest began to preach even louder.

"The First Contact War and then the Reaper War were but tests of humanity's will and faith...and we passed the Red Lord of the West's challenge, as is all war. Those unholy, reptilians, birds, and heretics are undeserving of the Universe and it's Holy gifts! And with the Andromeda Galaxy's accelerated approach, more tests are sure to await us."

Forgetting about her search, she began running in the direction underneath the balcony, yelling at the kid to take a step back. However, he was too far gone.

"No one shall stand in our way! We all shall rise to eternal salvation!"

He tumbled down ten stories to what would've been his death...

"Rejoice in the name of the Four Lords of the Universe."

But a shadowy figure sprung out from the opposite building, like an eagle, and caught the boy in midair. They landed in another balcony three stories from the ground. Her glasses lit up like a christmas tree in front of her eyes. This figure was a sight to behold.

His armor looked like a frankenstein-like mess of stitched pieces of scavenged material over many years. The newest looking pieces he wore shined smoothly in stark contrast to other older pieces that had been worn down to the metal. He donned a relatively shiny Spartan IV level Enforcer Helmet, save for a large scrape on the left side, most likely from a bullet. He wore a Spartan undersuit, however she could not tell which generation, most likely Spartan IV era as well. His right shoulder was peculiar. He wore old looking, but still standard ODST shoulder-pads, although his left pauldron was draped improperly. It looked as though he might have stolen them from an unlucky Orbital Drop Shock Trooper. His chest plate looked like a fusion of bits of standard N7 Armor and the "Rogue" variant of the Spartan IV Armor, the N7 pieces were most likely repairs from battles past. He donned a short and worn-down cape that flowed behind him when he glided in between buildings. His legs, however, were covered in the rare Spartan IV "Outer-plated" armor. Everything he wore was the same shade of black, except the visor of his Enforcer helmet. It glowed a dull orange. One striking feature about this figure, however, caught her attention immediately. He was missing his left arm, from the shoulder down. The blonde woman was too ecstatic to care, as she had found her strange target at last.

The one she was seeking for about three years was right in front of her, and now he was leaving. After dropping off the boy safely to the ground, the figure barreled down the street away from the crowds of people, but not before he took an ominous glance at the pursuant woman. Realizing her window of opportunity was now drastically shrinking, she took off in a sprint after the cloaked figure. Screaming 'Hey wait, I need to talk to you' didn't quite phase the black figure. She pushed past an endless horde of people until she reached an empty junction. She turned to her left and saw the figure gliding down and around the alleyways like a phantom. Like he was effortlessly hovering and not running. After about a minute and a half of running, the target was gone and lost. Not even her glasses indicated anything. She was panting, gasping for breath, after trying her hardest to keep up, but failing. Her heart sank to the bottom of her chest. So close...yet so far.

She gave up the chase on an empty street corner next to a rundown shop to catch her breath. Planning her next move, she turned around, attempting to regroup herself and start over with her search. At least she knew 'He' was in the city, and this is still the closest she's been in years. Her scanner might still be able to pick him up. However, fate had a very different idea for how her search would end. Because, lo and behold, once she turned around, the black figure was there, waiting for her. He appeared so quickly, her special sunglasses had a visible delay before releasing a useless and delayed beep and an obvious arrow pointing directly in front of her. His arm was on his hip, and he looked agitated, even though she could not see his face, she could tell from his stance."Why are you following me? You are drawing unnecessary attention to me and yourself." he spoke quickly.

"You don't... but I…Are you…" The woman stuttered, confused and still panting.

"Listen. I'm asking the questions here." The figure replied with a stern voice. "So I'll ask again, why are you following me?" This time, an unseen force seemed to emanate from the figure and pressed against the woman's skin. Like a warm breeze in the spring. To her it was not a malicious sensation, but a psychic show of force nonetheless.

"Because I needed to see you again...I need to know what happened...and I...I need your help." She answered, pleading slightly.

"You know I can't help you, they'll hunt me to the edges of the Galaxy and back. And they have plenty of time on their hands, I don't."

"What if I have a solution that neither you nor they could conceive."

"What are you trying to say? Huh. That you can erase my record, fix all that was destroyed, give me my arm back, or... or... bring back all those people..." His voice, starting out angry, but took a solemn turn at the end of his breath.

He looked down and away from the woman.

"Listen, I can't do all those things, I can't erase the past...but I…we…have an opportunity to save the future... and I can't do it without you damn-it." Her voice, now more emboldened, seemed to finally penetrate the man's ears, as his stance relaxed a little.

The man in the black, shadowy armor sighed, and said.

"Fine, I'll hear you out, but let's not talk here… There are ears everywhere… and we're no longer alone."

Four figures appeared at the end of the breezeway they ended up in, as if on queue. He grabbed her wrist with his one arm and attempted to escort her away back to the street. However, two more figures appeared at the other end of the alley, blocking their path to the street and by extension the neon-lit city. Each had a small tattoo of a blue sun on their shoulders.

"Damn. They found me already." The six thugs, now visible, converged on the pair.

"Heh, we got him cornered. That bounty is ours." The first of the band said. From the way he looked, he seemed to be the leader. He wielded a hand-cannon

"Oh, look at that, it seems we have a lady friend. Should we kill her?" The tallest of the group asked, who was of two men that appeared at the end of the alley that initially blocked their escape.

A hover car could subtly be heard approaching in the distance.

"No we should hang on to her, hehe, save her for later." One of the four on the other side greedily stated. He was the shortest, boldly displaying an electrified stun baton for all to see.

"No witnesses allowed, we kill them both." The leader said.

"Aw come on boss, I haven't had a good piece of ass in weeks."

"Shut up frog!" The leader snapped.

"Like I'd even let you touch me." Hissed the blonde woman, as she pulled out a fully loaded Phalanx hand-cannon, and pointed it at the one who made the 'save her for later' comment.

The would-be attackers all laughed.

"Look at that, the cunt's got a piece." One said, cackling, as he showed his own handgun.

The tallest spoke again. "Bitch, that gun ain't shit, we all wearin' armor." He brandished a large metal club.

The woman's confidence began to waver as sense of dread poured through her. The men slowly approached the pair. A hand then laid itself on her shoulder gently. It was the one-armed man in black.

"I'll handle them." He said, which somehow made her feel a little better. "Just remember to duck when I tell you." He consoled. "Oh, and don't be afraid to cap these fools in their thick skulls, if the unlikely need rises." He whispered.

She could almost sense a smile under his helmet. Then he stood up and glared at the majority of the thugs.

"I don't have time for any of you idiots." The man in black growled. His synthesized voice sounded inhuman now, erupting from his helmet's speakers.

The woman felt a semi-familiar feeling. It was like that breeze she felt earlier, that emanated from the man in black. Except it was stronger, colder, and more menacing. Like a dark aura.

"Unless you turn back now, none of you will leave here alive." The man in black coldly and boldly announced.

"Bah, you're just an armless war vet. You're high bounty will be easy one to take." The leader scoffed.

"Hmph. What's the bounty at now? 10,000? 15,000?" The man in black asked.

His aura was almost visible, and to the keen eye, seemed to form a thin outline around him, like the flowing corona around a solar eclipse. Its visibility increased further in contrast to the background lighting from an approaching hover-car's headlights. The woman took a couple steps back, now frightened. Her glasses began to beep again, this time indicating some low-level radiation. This radiation was harmless, but the peculiar thing was that it was coming from the man in black. The Leader began to laugh loudly and heartily. Once he stopped, he responded with.

"Its 25,000 creds. Now, lets fuck this guy up." With that, all six bounty hunters charged.

The man in black tilted his head back and chuckled slightly.

"Duck."

There was a low boom, followed by a whooshing sound, and the two street-side thugs were suddenly thrown back, right into an oncoming car. The blonde woman fell to her knees with her hands on her head, after hearing the Man in black's warning. She was very startled and what she began to witness.

The man in black, after disposing of two thugs that blocked the street exit, then raised his good arm and the four thugs in front were also thrown back by an invisible force, in similar fashion to a moment prior. One bounty hunter landed on his head with a crack.

The man in black calmly walked to the nearest man, the tallest thug who brandished the club. He proceeded to swiftly steal the club and mercilessly whacked him once in the head, silencing him. The last two, who recovered from being thrown, decided to charge the man in black, the leader with a knife, the shortest (frog) with a stun gun. The one armed man, still very calm (dark aura and all), first redirected a knife jab with his arm away to his right, then kicked Frog in the gut, which knocked frog back a few feet, winding him, the man in black then turned back to the knife wielder, blocked a knife jab with his arm again, but embraced a fruitless jab to his own face, or rather helmet, from the thug. At this point the man in black already had his hand around the leader of thugs wrist.

He twisted, the knife fell, and so did the thug, to his knees. Two clicks were heard in succession. One was the leader's wrist snapping from the man in black twisting hand, and the second was a blade protruding from man in black's outer forearm. The blade swiftly buried itself in the helpless thug leader's chest. The leader of the small band of thugs, as his vision grew dark, noticed a small emblem on the man in black's good shoulder. Wide-eyed, he fell over on his face, in a crimson pool of his blood, mumbling something about a 'Spartan' and a 'Legion.' The man in black found the last bounty hunter, Frog, who was wheezing from the kick prior, and who was fleetingly attempting to retreat. The man in black picked him up by his throat.

"Ppppp-please don't kill m..." The man in black promptly head-butted Frog.

"Shut up." The man in black stated angrily. Blood trickled down the short thug's forehead. The man in black's dark aura now doubled in thickness, and the cold breeze doubled in intensity. "Now. Before I leave you here with your… friends... I have a question Froggie. Who sent you and was it Anderson or Parangosky?"

"I dddd-don't know, god, pp-please, I don't want to die."

"You have five seconds to think real hard, cause I want a real answer." The man in black's hand squeezed the thug's throat tighter.

"Ack..."

"5." The man in black's head tilted slightly.

"Uh..."

"4. Keep thinking." His grip tightened.

"I don't kn…"

"3." The cold breeze from earlier now returned.

"Oh…ok ok!" The grip loosened slightly. "I think remember ssa-sso-something my boss mentioned. He said…said something about a Parangosky giving us an unusually high bounty."

"Fuck. Not her too. Goddamn-it!"

He then threw the would-be bounty hunter to the ground. Turning to the woman, he said.

"Now's the time to leave darling."

Still stunned at the display she just saw, he grabbed her by the wrist and began to pull her out of the alleyway. Once she began to move, she started to snap out of her stupor.

"Wait, one moment please." She said politely to the man in black.

She ran over to the short thug, who was now attempting to crawl away from the pair.

"This is for your comments from earlier." She said, as she kicked the short man angrily in the gut, still perturbed by the implications of what 'save for later' meant. The short thug, Frog, began to sob. "Ok lets go." She said contently.

Running out to the street, they saw the car accident. Turns out the 'Exogeni Inc. Model 11 Magna-hover' car (as it read in small lettering on the driver's side door) that struck two thugs was a yellow taxi. The taxi driver was out of his car in a panic, inspecting the damage (on both his car and the two bodies) whilst cursing and yelling in Cantonese. In the taxi a feminine, automated voice was repeatedly saying "Warning, collision detected. Emergency services have been notified" on a loop, in both english and cantonese. The two would-be bounty hunters were dead in the street. Death tends to be immediate after being struck by a car at around 80 kilometers per hour.

"More assholes like the Blue Suns will come." The man in black said, hinting at the two nearby deceased. The taxi driver noticed the two running by him and began, in futility, to shout at them. "Except the next wave will be more prepared...Just my luck I'd be found, right after trying to do some good." The man in black sighed. "We need to get to my safe house."

"Very well, lead the way."

There was silence for about ten minutes as they fled. They approached a tall apartment building near the edge of the city, which was distinct due to its brown hue. They walked in. There was an elderly gentleman in the run-down lobby, he was the doorman and had held the door open for the duo.

"Oh its you, Mr. Smith, nice to see you." The old man greeted.

"Nice to see you to Phil, how're things with your family?" The man in black replied. They shook hands.

"Oh they're going, ya know. The grandkids are ok, barely see 'em. Wife's still sick though."

"I'm sorry to hear that Phil, if you ever need anything, just ask."

"Thank you, but I think we'll be ok. I'd actually like to hear more about this beauty you've brought with you." He smiled innocently. "Name's Philip Morris, pleasure to meet you Miss."

"Hi Philip, I'm Valentine. I'm an old friend of Mr…Smith." The blonde woman said.

"You are very beautiful, you remind me of my wife when she was young." Philip complimented.

"Thank you Phil, you are too kind." The blond woman said.

"Take good care of her Mr. Smith, this is a rough city. And would you stop wearing that damned helmet? You're gonna give someone a heart attack."

"That's the idea Phil. We need to go now, so I'll see you later." The man in black replied.

"Ok, talk to you later." The pair continued across the lobby to the elevator as they spoke.

The man in black pressed a button to summon the elevator.

"Normally I take the stairs, but due to the circumstances we'll take the elevator...I'll make due without the exercise."

Once inside the elevator, he ripped open the panel next to the elevator doors. He moved around a couple wires and a bell ring sounded as the elevator door closed. He returned the panel to its spot, and the elevator rose. A simple musical chord began to play on a loop.

"Ok, whatever you say...Mr. Smith. Hehe." She giggled.

"What?" The man in black pondered.

"Mr. Smith is like the most generic pseudonym you could've chosen."

"Well 'Valentine,' I don't think you should be talking." The Man in black rebutted.

"Hey, I thought it was clever since my name is Valera."

"Mmhm" A minute passed in silence after as the elevator rose.

"I have a question." The Valera said.

"Shoot." The man in black replied.

"If all you did was jump to save that kid, how would they be able find you?" She started.

"Street cameras caught me…and your shouting drew attention to me." They passed floor 100.

"But isn't the device on your belt a jammer…and sorry about the shouting, I was a little excited." She said glancing at the small black box on his belt.

"Its ok… Hey! How'd you know it was a… ah never mind. It is a jammer. Piece of crap stopped working three days ago though." He sighed again. "Got it in a black market trade. You'd be amazed at what you could find in the underground."

"Trust me, I know." She said, pointing to her glasses. Which she removed revealing her ocean blue eyes. "So that explains how I found you too."

"Yep. Explains that in your five days of searching for me in this city, you only really made progress after two."

"How'd you know that I was…?"

"I keep my ear to the ground." She had a feeling he was smiling under his helmet again.

The elevator let out another ring. They had arrived to floor 217. They walked down the dark hallway. Approaching a door with a number pad next to it, the man in black entered a passcode, the door clicked and they walked in. There was a short hallway with a couple doors, followed by a large, well-lit room. The room had a large glass window, which they were facing, that overlooked the city on its north side. To the east was a bed. To the west side was a small workshop, which contained a workbench, toolbox, and a tool rack. It was pretty standard looking, except for a robotic arm lying horizontal in a stand on the workbench, a large Kukri knife imbedded in the workbench, and a deactivated "Loki" android standing in the corner. Next to the bed were an assortment of weapons. She could only recognize a few of the newer looking one, however.

"Welcome to my humble abode."

"Its pretty crappy." She blurted. He sighed at her harsh statement. "Do you even have a HoloVision?" She pondered.

"Thanks. Yes I do have an HV. Barely use it though. Too much of a distraction."

"Shame, there are some good shows on now. You have to watch the news though, right?"

"Yes I watch the news. The only thing I use the HV for. I unfortunately don't have the luxury to just sit down and unwind."

He said as he sat down at his workbench and began tinkering with the robotic arm. She sat down on his bed, removed her shoes, then proceeded to lie down. After a moment she made a coughing noise to try to grab his attention.

"Make yourself at home by the way. Enjoy what little luxuries I have in here before we leave, which will be very soon, since I've been discovered again." He stated as he attached the robotic limb to his shoulder and wiggled it in place, underneath his shoulder-pad.

He tested the arm by first willing the fingers to move around. He soon made a fist with the fingers and then willed the arm to bend back and forth. Finally he used the arm pick up small silver object on the workbench table. It was a silver cross. Valera was still lying on the Man in Black's bed. She stood up on the bed and was eyeballing the man at his workbench with wonder and bewilderment. Her face portrayed a strong sense of giddiness and excitement, most likely since she finally found the Man in Black. Looking at him now, she felt she had the chance to size him up. In the light she could see he was stocky and muscular, she could tell even under his armor, he was average height, but still tall enough to look imposing (at least to her). Glancing at his black armor she noticed a small symbol on his right shoulder pauldron. It was an Aquila, a small red eagle with its wings outstretched over a circular and gold background. She knew all about this symbol, the symbol of the Legion, a select group of Spartan IVs under ONI. In her past, she worked alongside several of them closely. Although, she may have had a history with members of the extinct organization that this man used to be a part of, but she still didn't know who exactly the Man in black was. All she knew was that this man had a history. At this point the Man in black had turned around to the blonde woman. He noticed her staring, and crossed his arms. He then said.

"Ok, Valera, I'm ready for what you have to say."

"Good. Mr. Legionnaire. Now how would you like to take revenge upon the people who are chasing you, and save the United Nations and all her colonies."

"Well I would like that very much... In fact…" He said, whilst removing his helmet with both his hands. "I would love it."

"Ah. So it's you."

"Yep. Did I keep you guessing the whole time?" He said with a smile.

"Well, I had my ideas, your voice is pretty distinct."

"Ha."

"Before I start with the big talk, I have a few small questions. Like. What's that big knife for?"

"Oh this?" He gingerly removed the knife from the table. Glanced at it briefly. But in that brief moment, a small streak of emotion passed through his face. "It was my sibling's. They died fighting here on Reach during the First Contact War against the Covenant and the Turians."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Its alright, I barely knew 'em. We parted ways before we started fighting in the war. Heard they became the sixth member of a team of Spartans defending this here planet. Nobel I think, or was it Noble. Last I heard from 'em, which was before the fighting on Reach, they messaged me about this Spartan team, and that there was a crazy bastard with him that carried the same kind of knife." He stated bluntly and emotionlessly, however, his face showed a hint of sadness. He placed the knife in a sheathe attached to his left shoulder.

"Thats odd."

"Yeah, some strange coincidence. I found this knife buried in the corpse of an elite, next to my sibling's body."

"Wow. May I ask about your arm?"

"Next question."

"The necklace?"

"Next question!"

"Hmph. Fine, be that way. But I'm going to keep asking about what happened to you?"

"Ok."

"Can't you see what the problem is. Before I can help you, I need to know what happened to you. From your time in the war to now."

"Why?" He pondered after a big sigh.

"Partly 'cause I'm curious. Partly 'cause I am your old friend and I'm worried. And partly because ' _they_ ' approached me and I know ' _they_ ' approached you too. However, ' _they_ ' only gave me half the story, and I can't put the final piece of the puzzle together without your part in all this." She spoke. He exasperatedly sighed at her words.

"' _They_ ' found you too, huh? Very well, I guess I'll start at the beginning. Ten years ago, during the end of the First Contact War…"

* * *

- ** _Author's Notes_** :

Hello all,

Thank you for taking the time to read my first chapter. Chapter 6 is in the works and will be complete by next weekend. I will try to write the most I can between work and my social life, however, college has started up again for me, it will be difficult for me to continue writing, but I will do the best I can.

If you are interested in the story I am trying to tell, show your support by leaving a helpful comment or review, and thank you for all the helpful comments I've received so far.

Thanks,

KILLERm12


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Good Plans are Doomed to Fail

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0500 hours, January 17, 2552

Atlas, Outer Territories,

~20,000 LY from Earth

Ten low flying aircraft soared throughout the dawn skyline in formation. A tight V formation, to be exact. With 4 aircraft in each "wing" of the formation, one aircraft in the front, and one tucked in the center. The aircraft, stealth variants of the D77-TC UNSC "Pelican," silently screeched over the dark ocean water towards a beach below a hill in the distance. As time passed, the sun rose, creating a matte canvas of orange and red reflections behind the aircraft. The sunlight soon crept up to the beachhead. The near silent aircraft were approaching the same beach. Onboard the stealth D77-TCs, (affectionately nicknamed "Pelicans") in the center, there was a whistling rush of air outside the hull. It was a pleasant distraction to the majority of the occupants. The United Nations Space Command Marines within were even quieter than the Pelicans. All were mentally preparing for the dawn invasion.

A man with a Colonel sigil on his right arm walked to the middle of the fuselage. He grasped a ceiling handle to steady himself during some turbulence before tapping a computer on his wrist. In each soldier's helmet, the radios released a low beep. Then the the Colonel's voice was heard across all ten aircraft in all the occupants' ears.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen of the 521st Marine Battalion. Today is a very important day for us all." He paused for a moment. "Four months of planning went into this assault, and we have the honor of marching in the first wave. Our first objective, as you are all aware, is to secure a beachhead for the troops and hardware behind us. After that we will move up the hill and destroy the Covenant AA Battery that is preventing our civilians, and by extension us, from evacuating this hellhole of a planet. Those guns are our primary target." He paused again. There was a resounding "Oorah" in response. "We will take this beachhead boys and girls, and we will be victorious. There is no other option." He paused yet again. This time to let the inspiration sink in to the troops, then he went right back to business. "First Lieutenants Barker, Lachlan, Ali, Hoffman, and Amenson will each take platoons of fifty. You all know what to do. Just follow your training, and you'll all live to see earth again." He paused one more time. "Forty Kilometers to the beachhead, eta 5 minutes. 2 million lives depend on you. Be strong, rely on each other, and you won't let them down. This is Colonel Williams, signing off." Another "Oorah" followed.

The Colonel discreetly secured a football shaped device around his belt, in the small of his back. He then pressed a button on his glowing orange omnitool. A nifty little device the Omnitool is. It's standard issue for all officers in the UN Colonial Marines. Its many functions include broadcasting written, verbal, and symbolic orders to each soldier's' Heads Up Display and their helmet speakers within a fifty mile radius of the local broadcaster or from a distant broadcast via satellite, extranet connection, or radio. Colonel Williams had tapped an opaque button on his Omnitool and suddenly Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyrie" began to blare over the radio in the wake of the Colonel's speech. Most of the men and women aboard were cheering, or at least smiling and a few even chuckling, as their stressed minds eased briefly. This mission weighed heavily on all of them. If they failed, the remaining population of the planet would die as a consequence.

Onboard another Pelican, adjacent to the Colonel's craft, the half a platoon, consisting of 15 marines including their respective lieutenant, were chatting amongst themselves. Of the particularly garrulous sort were the ones along the port-side wall.

"N-n-nnno... Barker would totally win, he's got the experience." Said a tall lanky male with pale skin with a meek voice.

"Bullshit, our Lieutenant is younger and stronger...and he's kinda cute." Retorted the, shorter than average, asian female to his left.

"Piotr, Kat, shut the fuck up. The Lieutenant's right there. Have some goddamn respect." Said a tall female brunette to the right of Piotr. Her name is Rosenda-A344. She was their squad leader. She was a Spartan III, and they were regular marines straight from boot camp. And she was pointing to a man slumped in his seat, eyes closed, in the front of the fuselage. He too was a Spartan III, however, he was in charge of the platoon.

"Fine." Grumbled Kat. Piotr went silent and looked at his watch and gasped. Less than 4 minutes remaining. A panicked look streaked across his face. He wasn't expecting time to fly by so fast.

"Ha, the man's still asleep...I am inclined to agree with Kat though." Added a short stocky man of Spanish looking heritage, sitting left of Kat. His name was Roberto. "Our LT's a crazy man. Once the beachhead is secure the Barker will want to sit back comfortably, while our LT'll be charging headfirst into the Covenant." That seemed to settle the argument.

Private Roberto, PFCs Piotr and Kat, Tech Sargeant Rosenda, along with a tall dark and handsome gent, Corporal Philips, were all in the same squad. Philips was seated to Rosenda's right and was discussing something with a very muscular man across from him.

"I'm just saying we should have our own battle song, borrowing one from the old Vietnam era is kinda lame."

"Yeah, but the song is still doing its job. Hell, I'm pumped." Said the muscular, grizzly bear of a man. He was Lance Corporal Shea, and he was a Hellbringer.

"You're always pumped, flame for brains." Said Philip, referring to Shea's primary weapon, an NA4 flamethrower, which was stowed vertically to Shea's right in a small compartment in the wall.

"Hah, whatever Phil. Oy Roberto, I'll give you 5 creds if you ask the First Lieutenant about the Headhunters, aaaa-and get a straight answer." Shea dared.

"You're on!" Private Roberto accepted.

"Wait until he wakes up please." Rosenda interjected.

"Ok then. I'll wait." 'In the meantime' he thought. "Yo egghead." Roberto said, referring to Piotr.

"What!?" Snapped Piotr, visibly shaking, and clutching a small silver cross which was secured around his neck.

"Woah, chill out man. Just got a question. How come the LOKIs ain't with us in the first wave?"

"I...I d-don't know t-t-the specifics, b-but I know is that it has something to do with our c-c-combat effectiveness."

"Well, I know 'we' are badasses, but are they like third gen or something?" Piotr's silence was his answer. "Damn that means they all carry pistols, right?!"

"Yeah." Piotr's breathing was becoming slightly erratic.

"Uuuuh, umm, oh, do you know what hardware they hauling behind us?"

"Uhh, I think two Grizzly tanks, and a couple Warthogs, and the LOKI droids."

"Oh that's not too bad. The Grizzlies are pretty good."

"The-the droids and hogs aren't EMP resistant. A-and intel reports there is a small army of Grunts." Piotr's eyes widened slightly after hearing his own words. This simply meant that these droids and vehicles were models that would frequently break down, if exposed to EMP burst, which is what the Grunt weapons were capable of en masse.

"Fuck." Roberto replied. Those in the fuselage who heard Piotr sighed depressingly. A couple of the green soldiers began to panic.

"Relax guys, Grunts are weak cannon-fodder. Even if they outnumber us, we'll still fuck 'em up." Consoled Kat. It helped a few, with the exception of Piotr.

Tears seeped down Piotr's eyes. He was still shaking and squeezing his cross so tightly his fingers, appearing bloodless, turned white. Slowly, his fear grew with each ticking second. Mania soon followed, planting the seeds of a swift series of dichotomous thoughts, infesting his brain. 'Why is this happening? I can't do this, the Covenant take no prisoners. We have shit backup...They'll find us and...'

"Oh geez, Piotr, are you alright?" Kat asked in a concerned tone.

"Huh, oh, I-I-I don't know." Piotr had caved during his internal strife, and was currently sobbing.

"Piotr," she noticed his cross, "which you praying to? Neo, or Old Faith?"

"Who-whoever's listening..."

"Hey, don't worry, miracles happen everyday. Something good will…" Kat attempted to console before she was cut off.

"Piotr, harden the fuck up, you pansy. You go three Spartans in this Pelican with you, and seven more spread out throughout this battalion." Rosenda growled.

Piotr silenced.

"Yo Roberto!" It was Shea.

"Yeah?" Said Roberto

"The LT's waking up..." Signs of life were now obvious in the platoon's Lieutenant, LT Thermopa. Better known by his Spartan codename of Aeden-G212. He was the leader of the platoon, and the man currently waking up from what seamed like a peaceful nap, even amongst the turbulence.

His seat, located in the bow of the ship, was quickly unstrapped as the LT rose to his feet. Still groggy, he removed his helmet, a Security helmet optimized for his Spartan III SPI armor. He then rubbed his eyes, and then his temples.

"You ok 'A?' Head hurt again?" Said Aeden's second in command, 2nd Lieutenant Dignus, who was seated next to Aeden. He too was a Spartan III, also known as Rafi-G307. His armor being the Operator variant of the SPI armor, as Rafi found it suitable for what he called his "Combat Engineer" style.

"Huh, oh, yeah, hey Raf." He pulled a tube out from his backpack, and sucked on it. Water flowed into his mouth. "Don't worry, it's just a post nap headache."

"Ok, whatever you say...sir... ha still can't get used to calling you that."

"Yeah, still confused as to why Command would put two Headhunters like us in charge of a platoon of other soldiers." Aeden stretched.

"It is odd indeed. This is the most hodgepodge army I've ever seen. Spartans, Grizzlies, FNGs, Hellbringers, androids. It's like someone just gathered every spare unit from around the system." Rafi pondered.

"Beats the shit outta me. At least we got that special gear from ONI."

Aeden yawned, then proceeded to check the straps, joints, motors, and hydraulics of his Security Variant SPI combat exoskeleton. He checked each slowly and carefully, paying much attention to detail. Then he checked the Omnitool on his left wrist. On the holographic screen a countdown timer could be seen. It showed "0h:1m:47s" on the display. He grumbled something about how time passes too fast. Lastly he put his helmet back on, and checked the speakers, microphone, the annexed Up-Armored (UA) plate on the helmet's brim, Hardened Uplink module (HUL) near his left ear, Command Network Module (CNM) near his right ear, and the figure-eight sunglass-like visor that fell from the brim of the helmet and landed near his nose. He checked each with a quick tap of his hand. His visor glowed a vibrant yellow, in contrast to his grey armor. Rafi also had the same color scheme on his armor.

"Hey Lieutenant, Sir, I have a question." It was Kat.

"Spit it out Private. Not much time till drop-off."

"Understood sir. So uh. We were wondering who would win in a fight, you or Bark...ouch!" Roberto had struck Kat in the arm, after leaning over the panicked Piotr. This was on behalf of Rosenda, who couldn't reach Kat herself, and would've severely injured her had she actually struck Kat, but was very irritated and had signaled to Roberto. Roberto now had a chance to speak and possibly claim his five credits.

"What Kat was trying to say is that we were wondering if it was true that the Headhunters spend most of their time stuck in Covenant occupied territory on suicide missions?" Roberto questioned.

"Weeks with no supplies, no backup, and only two men. Survived by raiding Covey camps for supplies, accomplishing the mission, praying for evac, and... that's all you need to know...Private." A hint of venom could be heard from the LT in those last few words.

"But, you always succeeded, right? Spartans never die!" Roberto said, ignoring the slight animosity and mention of his rank.

"You're pretty damn talkative for private ain't ya? You should try talking like that to the Covenant, kid."

"But...But, sir, is that what Headhunter missions were like?"

"Well, Private Roberto...no." He yawned again. "Actually you sort of gave me a good segway." Philip, Roberto, Shea, and Kat all looked at each other. Aeden-G212 raised his voice so that the whole shuttle could hear. "Ladies and Gentlemen of the UNSC. I'm ain't gonna sugar coat it, there will be casualties today. It's the cruel, unavoidable truth of war." He paused. "However, there are two questions you should be asking yourselves right now!" Aeden's Omnitool display showed 0h:0m:30s and dropping. "One, how well can you limit the casualties on our side by working as a strong, cohesive unit?" The Pelican began to descend rapidly. The fight was about to begin. "And two... how severe can you make ' _their_ ' casualties?" He said with a crooked smile under his helmet.

The five minute ETA passed all too briefly, much to the soldiers' dismay. The sound of the roaring engines and blaring music were abruptly halted as the Pelicans dropped down to the sand, and hovering only a few inches up. Outside the Pelican, on the ground ahead of the beachhead, dark and tall figures were scattered among the trees.

The Covenant, an alien conglomerate that waged war against humanity twenty-seven years prior, were superior technologically to humanity. They have a hyper-religious society that prioritizes religious fervor and intolerance. And they detest heretics, which is what they believe humans to be, as they also believe humans to be weak-willed and easily conquerable. Now imagine their surprise as a small human army, five platoons strong, dropped in undetected right in front of them. To say that they were taken off-guard by the human surprise attack was an understatement.

Unfortunately for the Marines, there happened to be a Covenant patrol right in front of their landing zone. They have now lost their element of surprise. Confusion spread like a virus amongst both sides. Initial sensor readings couldn't pick up this patrol, since these were Covenant scouts, and therefore wore stealth technology as a consequence. On the flip-side, the Covenant couldn't tell, at first, how many humans were attacking them due to the rising sun at the Pelicans' backs. They sprinted around looking for cover, others, the daring ones, ran for advantageous positions to place their anti-personnel guns. Most were blown away by the Pelican's guns, and the Marines' fire. The rest of the Covenant headed deeper the forest. Ironic, the advanced aliens species was running for cover in a primitive forest.

However, let's go back a few moments prior, before the violence began. After Aeden's quick speech was over, the Pelican that Aeden and company were riding in, whose callsign was "Oldboy," descended directly to the landing zone. Once Oldboy landed, the tree-line, soon to buzz with confused activity, temporarily stood still. The troops piled out. Aeden stayed by the door, screaming "Move-it!" repeatedly to the outgoing marines, and moving his arm in a small windmill motion. However, one marine's mind was ablaze with negative activity. 'Panic, no hope, death, give up, surrender or die, stay in Pelican, safe, Covenant kill... for fun. Staying is better.' These were the thoughts of Piotr.

"I'm not going, I can't, I'm not going, I'm not going..." Piotr repeatedly yelled out loud, whilst sobbing inside the fuselage. He had stayed seated the whole time, and was still clutching the cross in his right hand, close to his heart.

Aeden turned around after all the other troops left out the door. He marched towards the cowering man, which he couldn't help but notice.

"Not going, hah. Like hell you're not!" He said as he squeezed Piotr's right arm, yanking him out to the sand outside. Roberto happened to be their, frozen in place. As a matter of fact, all the marines that piled out of Aeden's ship, stood still. They all stared at the shadows in the tree line. Aeden, after throwing Piotr to the ground next to him, noticed what they were staring at. The lieutenant pressed his Omnitool, and all the local soldiers heard a low beep. Piotr's eyes widened at the horrific sight he had been dreading this whole time, the enemy. The silver chain part of his necklace, which he still clutched, had been broken when Aeden yanked his arm. Aeden crouched slowly, while sending orders via his Omnitool. Most orders were general to his whole platoon, some were for individual groups within the platoon, and one message was for the whole Company. "We've been compromised."

Suppressing fire was the first thing to occur. Marines like Philip and Roberto lit up the tree-line, as did Rosenda who carried a SAW. This was to buy time for the engineers to use explosives to make instant foxholes for the platoon. Oldboy too joined the fray by slowly elevating whilst firing its bow mounted machine gun, blowing several of the covenant away. All three occurrences were per Lieutenant Lachlan's orders. Amongst the craziness, a large chunk of soldiers, including Aeden, ducked down as a non-human projectile ripped by. The Covenant explosive erupted right next to the Pelican that dropped them off, aka Oldboy. Aeden was thrown back a few yards, as was Piotr, who had just gotten up and was attempting to crawl away. Luckily, both had landed in a hole in the beach. Aeden cringed as his earpiece groaned with the shrieks of the startled pilots.

"Shit! What the fuck was that?" The first pilot quickly questioned.

"A fucking Banshee, that's what!" The second responded.

"Crap, Rafi that. Lieutenant Thermopa, we are breaking off to pursue the enemy fighter."

"Copy that, good hunting boys." Aeden replied, staring at the Pelican from the makeshift foxhole he found himself in. With that the Pelican's engine's blared and Oldboy lifted and turned. The afterburners fired and the Pelican jetted away, Machine Guns blaring after the Banshee Ground support craft. 'This is strange, why were there Banshees here?' Aeden thought. Initial reports said that there should only be the AA Battery and some ground-based defenders. Some soldiers began to cheer, not because Oldboy had risen away, but because the second half of Lieutenant Lachlan's platoon had arrived. Aeden sent some more orders via his Omnitool, but something drew his attention downward. There was a small silver object in front of him.

"Got damnit Private, put your fucking cross away." Aeden said as he threw the cross at Piotr's chest. Piotr didn't say a word.

A series of high pitch beeps poked the inside of Aeden Lachlan's platoon's ears. Signifying that not only were Ali's, and Hoffman's platoons converging on Aeden's position, but the LOKI droids of the second wave were here. Another Pelican landed a few yards from Rosenda's squad. Out came 15 Droids, all wearing the same blank-white face, pouring out behind the Pelican. However, before the droids could pop out fully, a lump of plasma, about the size of a small boulder, hurled itself at the Pelican. It struck the Pelican in the cockpit, killing the pilots and several LOKI droids around the craft, and destroying all of the reamining LOKIs inside in the subsequent explosion. The remaining LOKIs all began firing into the tree line, and it seemed they mercilessly killed the hidden Fuel Rod carrying Grunt, with their sustained fire. As if in response, several pieces of plasma about the size of old earth baseballs flew toward the remaining LOKIs, killing them instantly.

Some fast-moving bird-like Kig-Yar "Skirmishers" were skipping around from tree to tree, trying to wreak havoc on any unlucky soldiers nearby. They were the ones that just killed the LOKIs. A few unfortunate marines, who were too close to the tree-line, got dismembered and decapitated by the Skirmishers' trademark - shield-like - Point Defense Gauntlets, which could be used as weapons. Another member of Aeden's platoon, Shea, sped past Aeden and Piotr and unleashed a jet-like torrent of fire over 100 meters in length. He doused most nearby Skirmishers in the concoction of volatile semi-liquid fuel from his flamethrower. Two other Hellbringers joined Shea, igniting the tree-line, also per Aeden's orders. The other Skirmishers scouts retreated into the forest to join their buddies.

"Ha, I love the smell of Napalm in the morning!" Shea exclaimed.

"It's not napalm, ya stupid pyro, its more like a mixture of kerosene and various other chemicals to compensate atmospheric and gravitational conditions, you should know this..." Shouted Phil.

"Shut up Phil, nobody asked you." Shea replied.

"Don't let those Covies escape, they'll alert the defenders of the AA Batteries that we're here." Shouted Aeden over the radio.

Back in the air, the Oldboy was now in a high speed aerial chase over the battlefield. The Banshee was fast, but it was a ground support vessel. The angular Pelican had the in atmosphere advantage, and it was using it. Swept wing, it was, with two propellers inside the wings for vertical lift, and four high powered jet engines in the sides and back for forward propulsion. Nevertheless, the first pilot, who was primarily in charge of of flying the Pelican, was pushing the craft to its limits, cutting the turns tight, and trying his best to give his gunner, the second pilot, a clear shot. The second pilot, was focusing on aiming his Machine Gun. As he looked through his gun camera, he began to stare the beachhead below him. He saw the clearing littered with soldiers, bloodstains, disemboweled and limbless corpses, burnt carcasses of the unlucky covenant forces and soldiers, men with flamethrowers, the signature muzzle flashes of the standard issue marine assault rifles, and the remnants of the Covenant forces firing at the storming humans, Spartans, and droids. The gunner snapped out of his stupor and focussed on the sky. The dogfight was on. The other Pelicans were engaged in either ground support for the other platoons or were destroyed. Now the gunner finally had alignment with his gun on the Banshee. He wished he had missiles, but they needed to save weight for the marines.

"...We need some help down here Oldboy, can you give us some air support?" Aeden asked on the comms.

"Negative, we're a little busy up here." The pilot replied.

"I got this." The gunner muttered to himself, as he held his breath. The gunner aimed at the heart of the enemy's engines. He squeezed the trigger, and unleashed thousands of angry pieces of lead that ripped through the air to its target. Smoke erupted from the round and purple enemy aircraft and it fell. A sigh of relief escaped from both pilots' mouths. This was too soon however, because over the horizon, five more Banshees appeared. It was a trap.

Six more Covenant soldiers revealed themselves in front of the treeline, and were gunning at Aeden's platoon. They had each hidden behind a tree, biding their time before erupting when the time was right. These were special, as they were not the same as the scouts that the marines had fought prior, although, Aeden assumed they must've been part of the same patrol. These Covenant, were big, bulky, heavily armored, and armed with large plasma repeaters that decimated the marines. They were nicknamed "Elites," and they were of the Zealot rank. In "Elite" society, the higher the rank, the better the armor, shields, and weapons they were given, and Zealots were equivalent to Generals.

The remaining Covenant scouts, had retreated into the forest, and Aeden could only guess they were going to report the invasion to their superiors. At this point, half of the entire marine company under the command of Colonel Williams was wiped out. Only 64 of the first wave remained. The LOKIs, who originally had around half the numbers as the marine company, due to their lack of armor had whittled down to a mere twenty, as predicted. Ducking in his foxhole, Aeden could only shoot at one of the oncoming Elites, as his line of sight was limited due to his foxhole. He told 2nd Lieutenant Dignus to lay down several deployable covers to protect the rest of the marines and Spartans. Using his engineering Omnitool, he launched a handful of small grey boxes with several small red streaks, one at a time in a line in front of the marines. These boxes assembled themselves into 9-ft high walls of plasma in front of several nearby foxholes. This allowed the designated marksmen, like Kat, take potshots at the large covenant Elites from behind the safety of cover. Aeden assessed the situation. A trench was forming, and he didn't like it. Only one idea formed in his head. Plan A failed, their surprise attack was no longer a surprise, only plan B remained.

"Oldboy, are you still in the air?" Silence. "Can you provide air support now?" Aeden asked on the comms. At first static was his response, but as he looked up at the sky, he saw explosions, from both human and Covenant aircraft. The five Banshees had thrashed the remaining Pelicans. Even though the Pelicans had superior offensive capabilities and armor, they were at the end of the day, troop transports. Of the twenty Pelicans that transported the first two waves of soldiers and LOKIs, only two remained. Of those two, Oldboy was not one of them. Twelve were destroyed in air by the Banshees, and six were destroyed by the Covenant ground forces.

"Goddamnit!" Aeden said as he rammed a fist into the sand. Suddenly, a loud boom could be heard above, followed by a steadily increasing swooshing noise. A smoking Banshee was falling from the sky, and was aimed towards the beach. To the all the soldiers' joint surprise, it crashed into an Elite east of Aeden's position, and subsequently a large fireball erupted, spewing heat and shrapnel in all directions. Aeden was firing at an Elite, but quickly turned to hide behind a deployable cover in lieu of the explosion. A Pelican quickly followed, swooped in low, and hovered in front of another Elite, guns blazing. The Elite was reduced to purple swiss cheese. The Pelican turned towards the other Elites and quickly ripped them apart as well. Aeden used this opportunity to his advantage, and ordered the elimination of the final Covenant forces. He himself personally executing the last of the Elite Zealots with a well placed headshot as it attempted to retreat. The soldiers cheered. This skirmish was over. Now the men had a chance to lick their wounds, regroup, and enact plan B.

"Hey Rafi. Can you perform some field repair on some of these droids?"

"I'll see what I can do Aeden." Rafi replied.

"Thank you Rafi."

Aeden took this chance to look around. A small silver object caught his eye.

"PFC Piotr, god-damnit, what the hell did I say…" Aeden cut himself off as he saw a body. It was a few feet away from the cross, and the sand around it was stained red. Piotr was dead, stabbed in the heart by shrapnel from the crashed Banshee. It appeared he was crawling to a foxhole. Aeden sighed as he walked over to the body, grabbing the Piotr's dog tags, and closing the man's eyes. He then turned, and walked a few steps over, and picked up Piotr's cross, with the intent of giving it to his relatives. He placed the cross in the same pocket as Piotr's dog tags, so that he wouldn't forget. Meanwhile, the deployable covers deactivated themselves and the engineers began to collect them as the marines were gathering.

"Lieutenant, sir, Tech Sargeant Rosenda-A344 reporting." Rosenda ran up.

"I remember you. Yes, what is it Rosenda?" Aeden replied.

"My squad's radio man reported to me." Rosenda took a deep breath, and she lowered her SAW below her waist. "He told me that Barker-B049 and Amenson's platoons are wiped out, Hoffman-G205 is MIA and his remaining soldiers have arrived here with us, Ali-A168 is KIA and his platoon suffered heavy casualties, and, to top it all off, Colonel Williams was hit, but he's still alive and talking."

"Ok, we're going to meet with the survivors then. See what the Colonel says. What's his position?" Aeden asked.

"One click west sir." Rosenda replied swiftly.

Aeden, then tapped a button on his Omnitool. "Ok, attention all members of my platoon, Hoffman's platoon, and any local LOKIs. We are gonna clean up our section of beach here, then move on to the Colonel's position, and receive further orders. We will link up with Ali's forces on the way. Collect as many dog tags as you can. Engineering core, I want you to report to Second Lieutenant Dignus, see what you can scavenge, and repair any droids you can."

The troops began to move out. It didn't take long for Rafi and the remains of the Engineering core to repair a few droids. Enough to make a difference, at least in Rafi's mind.

"Sir, permission to speak freely?" Rosenda asked as the group began to march.

"Yes Tech Sargeant?" Aeden replied.

"Why...why do you think Command allocated Spartans like us to these units? And I've never even heard of the Headhunters like you and your friend, until you were given command. And I'm from Alpha company so I should be on the up and up too." Rosenda asked in a curious tone.

"I think Command did it by necessity. They probably calculated that this beach was one of few good locations we could attack from. Assessed what spare units were nearby, like us, and threw in whatever resources they had left. Maybe we were the only units around with enough experience and rank, maybe they're running low on officers. Or maybe there's something more to this mission. I know as much as you." He paused for a moment. "As for the Headhunters, I still can't tell you much, but before this mission began, I was resting quite nicely in a cryo-tube, got woken up, was told I need to lead some troops on a mission, now here I am. Heh, this is my first non-suicide mission in a while." He paused again to sigh. "Ya know. Frankly, between you and me I don't like command all that much, I prefer working alone, or in small group."

"Do you really think it was that simple, that they just grabbed the resources they could? And they just expected you to take to command well?" Rosenda asked.

"Hell, I have no idea. I'm here to do a job, and I'll do it. These questions are more for Rafi." Aeden replied in a lighthearted tone. Turning his head towards Rosenda he continued. "Please don't put my ability to lead into question. I may not like it, but it doesn't in any way mean I'm unqualified. Just ask Rafi about some of my missions." His tone changed to a more serious one.

"Understood sir, whatever you say."

"Oh, and Rose, you can drop the sir. We're both Spartans, and we're deep in the shit now." Aeden stated bluntly, his tone returning to lighthearted once more.

"Understood."

"Hear my words Rosenda, we will complete this mission, no matter what. You wanna know why?"

"Why?"

"'Cause I'm pissed off." Aeden stated, removing his helmet and looking at Rosenda with a smirk. Rosenda was taken aback by his smile, which held back a combination of blind fury and pure excitement.

She felt somewhat comforted by his words though. She looked at the way he walked. He walked in front of his men, with a posture and a strut that emanated an impossible amount of confidence. Rosenda, impressed, turned around and returned to her squad, which only had Phil, Shea, Roberto, and Kat remaining. Roberto was still alive, but he was limping, as his thigh had been scraped by a lump of plasma. Phil ran over to Roberto and held him up for support.

"Roberto, you still combat ready?" Rosenda asked.

"Yes ma'am, I don't care how many painkillers or stims you gotta give me. Just keep me in the fight." Roberto pleaded.

"Fine, just don't slow us down. We need everyone at 100%. Kat, patch him up."

"Ugh, ok." Kat said, like a pouty child. "Oh Rosenda, what was it like to talk to the Lieutenant?"

"Yeah. Ouch, watch it Kat. Did you find out anything more about the Headhunters?" Asked the injured Roberto.

"No, but talking to him was interesting." Rosenda replied thinking over the LT's words.

Back in the front of the group, Rafi had caught up to Aeden.

"Lock, reporting in from engineering." Rafi stated.

"Yes?" Aeden asked.

"We've completed repairs to 9 droids. All men and women that are walking, they're weapons and omnitools are fully functional. The deployable covers are still fully functional, and in the short timespan, I was even able to revive 12 more LOKIs." Rafi stated eagerly.

"Impressive as always Rafi." Aeden congratulated.

"Thank you 'A.'"

"All right Marines, double time it!" Aeden yelled at the remaining 36 men and women. The group of soldiers, droids, and Spartans took off at a small trot down the beach. However in the moment, their "trot" was a fast sprint. They reached a strong, upbeat pace, even though the marines had suffered casualties. They had faith in their Lieutenant. The Lieutenant, in the meantime, was trying to place faith in the plan B that command had given him. Unfortunately for Aeden's soldiers, what they would see when they reached the Colonel's group was...less than upbeat.

* * *

- ** _Author's Notes_** :

Hello all,

Thank you for taking the time to read my second chapter. Chapter 6 is in the works and all will be complete by next weekend. I will try to write the most I can between work and my social life, however, college has started up again for me, it will be difficult for me to continue writing, but I will do the best I can.

If you are interested in the story I am trying to tell, show your support by leaving a helpful comment or review, and thank you for all the helpful comments I've received so far.

Thanks,

KILLERm12


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: From the Ashes...

* * *

0630 hours, January 17, 2552

Atlas, Outer Territories,

~20,000 LY from Earth

Aeden's platoon had arrived one mile down the beach towards the Colonel's position. They arrived at a gruesome sight. There were so many bodies strewn on the beach, that barely any sand could be seen, and if there was sand, it was painted crimson. There was a thick smell of iron and burnt flesh striking the nostrils of every marine. There were only 10 men left in Ali's Platoon (which Colonel Williams was overseeing), two medics were huddled around the injured Colonel, the rest of the soldiers were either checking bodies or piling the corpses. Aeden walked straight towards the Colonel, and ordered his marines to help deal with the mess. The Colonel was still conscious, but could only mutter in whispers. The Colonel was also coughing uncontrollably, and wheezing with each breath. This was due to the fact that he was struck in the chest by a plasma bolt. His chest, and the body armor around it, had melted and concave inward, and it was deeply burned. When Aeden approached him, he explained what went wrong in a gargled tone. It turns out that the first thing to go wrong were their Deployable Covers, which failed to assemble properly. So, in order to save the rest of his men, the Colonel had sacrificed all of his LOKI droids to stop the Elite Zealots that, too, had appeared before them. First by creating a makeshift shield with them, and as a last resort, detonating them nearby the Elites, in order to kill them. Next they had no air support, because as soon as the Pelicans dropped the Colonel's men off, he ordered them to leave immediately, and not hover a few seconds longer, unlike what Aeden did. Because of that, their Pelicans were either destroyed by the Banshees (which had arrived sooner then at Aeden's side of the beach) or by the Covenant ground forces before they could escape. If it wasn't for the droids, all of the Colonel's men would've been killed.

"Listen Lieutenant." The Colonel reached out and grabbed Aeden, pulling him in close. "Your men are still alive, mine aren't, *cough* that says a lot. Even if we find Spartan Hoffman, I want you to take command. You know that since our cover has been blown we need to switch to plan B."

"Plant the HAVOK at all costs." Aeden mentioned in a deep, somber tone.

"Yes! Do what you must! Take my men too. I don't, ack, need them. I know I'm not gonna last *cough* long out here." The Colonel said, grasping for the football shaped object from earlier, and handing it to Aeden.

"Yessir."

"Good, *cough*cough* give 'em hell LT." The Colonel said, hacking and whooping after his last sentence finished. Medics huddled around the Colonel once again.

The only good news for the soldiers at this point was due to the arrival of the third wave of reinforcements. The Grizzly tanks and Warthogs had arrived. Four Pelicans dropped off four tanks, and four Hogs. The Grizzlies were wide, heavily armored, double barrel, low to the ground tanks. Each had two large rotating artillery guns, canister shells, and each used continuous-track tank-treads for movement, as treads were still useful even in the year 2552. They had three mounted machine guns, one alongside each main cannon, the other located on top of the cannon assembly, near the entry hatch. The Hogs' suspension rode about one half meter above the ground. The bottom of the Warthogs were as armor plated as the top, but painted black, while the top halves, resembling the jeeps of old, were green. The Hogs varied in weaponry. One had large, meter long Gauss cannon mounted towards the rear. One had a heavy rocket launcher pods. The last two had large, rotating machine guns, that the UN military had touted as having the same impact of mounted .50 cal machine guns of the late 21st century. Both the Grizzlies and Hogs were specifically modified for this forest mission as they all had plows and small saws strapped on their front grills.

"Rafi." Aeden said.

"Yes?" Rafi replied.

"Did you finish your side project from the other day?"

"Yep."

"Did you bring it?"

"Yep." Rafi said confidently, pulling a small gray orb out of his pocket.

"Good, we are gonna need it."

Aeden began to fiddle with the device he was given by the Colonel. It split apart into two separate HAVOK nukes. Aeden handed one of the nukes to a marine that quickly trotted to another vehicle. The vehicles started to form a line, alternating between tank and hog. Aeden hopped in the first Hog's driver's seat, followed by Rafi, Rosenda, Shea, and Kat, whom assorted themselves like a puzzle inside the Hogs tight space. Aeden stood up in the seat, raised his assault rifle, and instead of turning on his radio, shouted.

"All men that want to avenge their fallen comrades, come with me! One last push is all we need! Mount up and lock 'n load!" The remaining forty-eight soldiers, cheered in the wake of Aeden's words.

Roberto and Phil filed their way towards the second Hog in the middle of the column of vehicles. Phil helped Roberto crawl in the back of the Warthog, under the gun, while Phil crawled in the passenger seat. Two other marines joined them, with the each taking the gunner seat and the driver seat. The remainder of the able-bodied men also piled in the vehicles, followed by a bevy of engine revving and cheers. However the leftover droids remained to protect the beach, which was the emergency LZ.

With that, the first tank began to push through the tree line, followed by Aeden's jeep. The remainder of the men and women piled into the tanks and hogs in the queue of vehicles, with one squad of LOKIs guarding the rear.

* * *

0639 hours, January 17, 2552

Atlas, Outer Territories,

~20,000 LY from Earth

The Hogs, Grizzlies, and trailing LOKIs split off into separate groups, like branching lines of ants. The caravan of heavy and light vehicles had just broken out of the lush green forest, and upon splitting entered a rural colony town. In contrast, as if to spite the gray, dry, rural style, two tall and sickly purple spires rose up along the north end of the colony town. The AA towers. The human-vehicle phalanx dispersed themselves amongst the town. The quiet colony town, which had long since been evacuated, left an uneasiness amongst the atmosphere. Two Hogs and one Grizzly split off toward one of the towers. The remainder of the ant-like line continued on towards the other western spire. This larger contingent of the humans quickly surrounded and converged on one of the purple towers. A few human ants stepped near the first AA tower. However, a series of small, green explosions erupted around this group of ants. The blasts were centered around the three Grizzly tanks, and they exploded as a result (after a fair amount of sustained fire), although as if in spite, the tanks fired their canisters and mainguns at the tower and various sources of the green flashes. A surrounding horde of dark anteaters released a hounding swarm of speeding green spheres upon the humans. Many of the marines dropped like flies. Crushed as easily as ants. A few fought back, using whatever weapons at their disposal. The main workhorses of their counterattack were their usable, Warthog mounted .50 cal machine guns. A stream of red and yellow flashes drew trails into the morning sky. The buzzing bees of the Covenant defenders, attempting to sting their foes, began to take on casualties as well. Even more explosions erupted in several places around the new battlefield. Except now they were splashes of red, yellow, and black. A small swarm of boxes were thrust about to make shields around the thinning number of humans. Soon, several one way barriers formed. Some failed as hard-hitting plasma, or sustained fire, made pixelated cracks and then holes in the shields. Screams of the wounded, and unnerving growls and clicks, reverberated in-between the blasts and explosions of grenades, mortars, and plasma launchers. Smoke collected around the area, and soon there was a thick cloud. The firing stopped, in response. When the smoke cleared, only a few humans remained. One with a limp, another tall and dark and handsome, and two other humans with helmets, glasses, and bandanas that hid their faces. They then proceeded to hook up one of their two designated tactical "HAVOK" nukes to the tower. One of the men spoke into his radio. This group was successful, for now, but their enemies were still in abundance, hidden around this valley where the town was located.

Meanwhile, the other, smaller group of soldiers rode successfully towards the other purple tower. However, they were able to plant their bomb first. Then they were ambushed. Their one Grizzly tank was able to fire off five deafening, ear shattering, heavy duty slugs, before it blew up. This allowed the two Hogs to lay down suppressing fire against the Covenant aggressors. A similar light show of red, green, and black spheres, orbs, streams, and blasts occurred like before. A swarm of little black boxes formed their shields as before. One barrier failed, allowing the Hog it was protecting to explode under the hail of green shots. One Hog remained. The remaining deployable covers were quickly conglomerated around the remaining Hog. However, this barrier soon began to fail as well. And so it goes.

Escape quickly became this Hog's only option. The deployable covers detonated, slowing the enemy. This was only a hindrance to them, however, and they were able to sneak in some potshots at the runaway Hog.

The lone black Warthog slowed to a halt as fire engulfed the engine block. All the inhabitants vacated swiftly, save for the driver, who struggled with his harness, and the gunner, who was firing non-stop with the Gauss cannon. Alert and caution signals littered the front dashboard, reiterating the obvious engine issue. The front passenger on the right side had hopped out, and in a flash of green, plopped dead-like on the ground with a hole through his chest, dropping a flamethrower. The two out-of-vehicle soldiers skidded away from the burning Hog to the nearest cover, and gunfire soon filled air. The man in the driver's seat, after a brief panic, released a loud battle cry (which wasn't very loud, considering the gunfire) and broke the harness around him with inhuman strength. High pitched screeches and guttural yells reverberated around the hillside. Quickly the once driver turned around and grabbed a gray object from the center console, and like a dead fish, the former driver plopped out of the car onto the ground. He crawled feverishly towards his two comrades, who were suppressing unseen opponents that released odd green projectiles dangerously close to their respective positions. One of the two out-of-vehicle comrades halted her suppressive fire to yell something at her commanding officer (who was frantically crawling five yards away) only to have her helmet blown off in a sickly green then red flash. She was a marksman. The CO only understood the words "hurry up" before he made it to the storefront where his one of his last comrades was sheltered. The CO was the rank of lieutenant.

The man in the gunner seat kept firing until the gun over-heated. He had stayed on too long however, and green plasma bolts nearly swarmed him. He was lucky though, as a single rounded box was launched in front of him, protecting him. He quickly ran to the same cover where the other two soldiers were located. There was soon a brief pause where all three soldiers sat there silently as gunfire and green plasma weaponry temporarily ceased firing. Aeden, the man who was previously crawling, looked to his left. The soldier Aeden stared at, Tech Sargeant Rosenda, was desperately reaching for ammo she had secured around her belt. Aeden put a hand on the soldier's shoulder, and Rosenda looked at him in a fluster. "Relax Rose, we got this." Aeden consoled.

"How? The marines, Shea and Kat are dead, or at least severely injured, aaand we're separated from the rest of the Company!" The Tech Sargeant replied. 'Did he just say Rose again?' She thought.

"There is nothing I can do about that now. But we need to get the fuck out here before you what goes off."

Rosenda looked down at her feet like an angered child. This was very off-putting to Aeden, as he assumed there should be a certain professionalism to Spartans. This broke Aeden's concentration.

"Hey." Aeden reached into his pocket. "Take this. It was Piotr's." He handed Rosenda both Piotr's dog tags and his silver cross.

She calmed, quietly thanking him, thus allowing Aeden to think for a moment. Taking in his environment, Aeden took in the layout of the room he found himself in. It was a storefront to a small tech shop. What was surprising to him more him, and the Battalion, when they first arrived, was that the AA Battery was located in a small colony town. 'Why didn't command tell us about this?' Aeden thought. Shifting his focus, Aeden then he pulled out the gray object from earlier and handed it to Rafi, who was silent this whole time, focused on the outside, looking out for the enemy. Rafi then shifted his attention to the gray object.

"Roy, wake up! We need a pulse scan now." Rafi said calmly. The little gray orb that was in Rafi's hand had projected an image in the air, hovering around the height of their heads. The image of a small middle aged man in monochrome blue.

It sighed "Yes Lieutenant, pulse scan online now." Aeden, Rosenda, and Rafi's Heads Up Displays flared up inside their helmets. "There are enemies west, at your six o'clock sir." Roy said unemotionally and monotonously.

Their visors highlighted, in red, the locations of aliens nearby. They were elevated on a building across the street. Four of them were huddled up on the roof of the two story building.

"Wait… there's something odd. I'm picking up something strange on the scanner." Roy said. Aeden turned with his back to the aliens. 'What could be odd?' Lieutenant Thermopa wondered. Then suddenly, something 'off' caught his eye. It was a small red spot being displayed by his HUD, coupled with a glimmer, similar to what one sees when hot air rises above a flame. It began to move, drifting slightly to the right.

"Shit, its a Zealot!" Aeden said quickly as he, like a cheetah, got up and sprinted towards the glimmer. Putting his Spartan III augmentations to good use, he shifted his weight with each step, adjusting for the added momentum and weight that came with wearing the Semi-Powered Infiltration armor he was wearing. He knew his target was directly in front of him. Swiftly he tackled the invisible alien with the force of a loaded pickup truck. Before the alien even realized that its former prey had struck it, Aeden revealed a blade from a slot on his left shoulder and impaled the alien in a weak spot near its abdomen. The Spartan II knew all about the Elites, and their weaknesses, evidence of a long history dealing with the creatures. Aeden knew all too well about the weak spot on their stomach due to their stealth armor. The Elite gurgled for a couple of seconds, then expired. Aeden, covered in blue blood from the Elite, ripped his combat knife free from the corpse, rose up, and turned towards Rosenda and Rafi. His helmet de-polarized revealing a portion of his face. His eyes were not the eyes of a person, but the eyes of an insatiable predator. Rosenda, stunned at the display before her, gently put the cross away, and gripped her Gauss SAW tightly.

"You two!" Aeden pointed at them. "Take care of the Elites on the roof across the street. Take my grenades if you need them." He walked over to them and handed them three fragmentation grenades.

"Aeden, if you're going somewhere, take Roy." Rafi pleaded in a serious tone.

"Thanks, but I'll be fine. You'll need him more than me. I'll be right back." With that, Aeden disappeared into the building, his armor blending into the background.

"How come he gets camo?" Rosenda complained.

"Roy, where are the Covenant now?" Rafi asked the orb.

"There are two remaining on the roof. However, two are inside that building, descending. It appears they are heading for the street."

"Thank you Roy."

"One more thing sir. I did another scan, this time within the visible light spectrum instead of thermal. The two on the roof did not appear in this scan. It seems that this group of Elites are aware of our scanning tech. Updating your HUD to thermal for now."

"Duly noted, thank you for the warning Roy." Rafi turned towards Rosenda. "Tech Sargeant, I need you to lay down a suppressing fire on the bastards on that roof. I'm going to launch a grenade to finish them off." Rafi ordered. 'I can only wonder what Aeden is up to. Also, why are only two of the mongers wearing skulker armor?' Rafi thought.

Rosenda fired away. High speed shots of Full Metal Jacket-AP 7.62x51mm rounds, fired at 920 rpm, quickly disintegrated the cover that the roof-based Mongers were hiding behind. She even clipped one, as she noticed a spurt of blue blood in the air. Rafi in the meantime, hooked up one of the grenades Aeden gifted him to his left forearm. The armor around Rafi's gauntlet, glowed orange, as his omnitool created a small rail that the grenade slid perfectly onto. He lifted his arm, and aimed. He focused on the red roof-based figures on his HUD. A small blue parabola shown on his HUD as well, highlighting the projected path of the grenade. He fired. On the roof. The Elites waited, ducking under their diminishing cover, waiting for their plan to spring into action. A small black pineapple grenade landed next to them. They barely had a moment to look at each other before the grenade detonated, revealing their incinerated bodies to Rosenda and Rafi. According to their HUDs, only two Elites remained.

"Rosenda aim for the door. I'll fire another grenade after you suppress them." Rafi ordered.

"Yes sir." Rosenda replied.

Static ripped through their ears.

"Second Lieutenant Dignus!" It was a marine of the other larger group.

"Go ahead." Rafi replied.

"Sir, we can't seem to hale Lieutenant Thermopa. He shut off his comms."

"He's in one of his moods again." Rafi gloomily stated.

"Excuse me sir?" The marine asked.

"Nothing, what is it you wanted to report?"

"We found Lieutenant Hoffman...The Covenant abducted him, and... disemboweled him near the western AA tower." A vomiting noise echoed in the background. "They most likely tortured him for intel."

"Thats not something I wanted to hear. I'll tell LT Thermopa when I see him. Is the nuke set?"

"Yes sir. But, we experienced heavy resistance, and suffered heavy casualties. We're down to ten men...We've only got two Hogs left." The clone stated.

"Ok, grab the remaining men, and get the hell out of here! Call in the Pelican ASAP at the LZ. We'll be right behind you." Rafi ordered.

"Copy that sir. Over and out." The marine ended.

Rosenda's SAW swiftly marked the end of the conversation. Pieces of explosively launched lead, shot towards the doorway that Rafi talked about. In similar fashion to before, Rafi launched another grenade, and killed the two Elites in the doorway.

"Hmm, that should be good for now. Where the hell is Aeden?" Rafi spoke out loud.

"I don't know. Doesn't matter, I'm at least gonna check on the soldiers I'm in charge of." Rosenda replied sassily, as she stepped out of the shop into the street. "Rafi, can you please check on Kat? I'm gonna check on Shea."

She walked around the flaming Hog, and found shea's body.

"Holy hell, you're still alive." Rosenda exclaimed. Shea was coughing and wheezing.

"W-water. P-please." Shea begged, his arms twitching. Rosenda acted quickly. She pulled out a small container from her backpack. She opened the nozzle, and sprayed a thick white foam over the large burned area. Shea, as a result, was able to take a deep breath as a result. Then she reached around to Shea's pack, pulled out his water tube, and stuck it in Shea's mouth. He thanked her profusely. She looked at him. It was bad. His body armor was warped inward, cratering around the point of impact. It wasn't as bad as the Colonel's injury, but she was unsure about whether he would pull through. Unfortunately for Rosenda, she did not notice a small glimmer of air behind her.

"Rafi, how's Kat?" Rosenda asked Rafi.

"She'll live. Helmet saved her. She probably won't hear, or rather feel anything on the right side of her face for the rest of her life, but she'll live." Rafi replied swiftly.

The glimmer approached Rosenda slowly, whom was completely unaware of the large alien footprints appearing behind her.

"Sir, I'm picking something up!" Shouted Roy.

As if on queue the shimmer became more distorted as it was about to strike Rosenda. Several bullets, however, ripped through the Zealot's invisible skull. Aeden was the shooter. The Elite fell to the ground, materializing into the visible light spectrum.

"You have to keep your guard up Rosenda." Aeden stated bluntly. "There's another one around here. They hid next to the two elites you killed by the doorway. Smart bastards confused Roy."

"I'm sorry sir, I will update my software later to compensate." Roy said dryly.

"Rafi, fix up the Hog, we need to leave. I overheard the radio." Aeden stated.

"I'll hurry." Rafi stated.

"Rosenda, grab your comrades, get them on the Hog…" Aeden's ears perked, and his head cocked left. He was sideswiped in the abdomen by a green bolt of superheated, projectile gas. Aeden fell to one knee, cradling his stomach. He looked up, a mix of pain and anger crossed his face, and, before he knew it, he was sprinting again. Fight or flight had kicked in and he was grunting and growling like a feral wolf. Close ahead of him were alien sounds of barking, and noises that sounded like "wart." He heard loud thumps for footsteps in the dirt, and veered straight towards the sound. The last of the Elites, he reckoned, was directly in front of him. He raised his MA5K Assault Rifle, and fired blind. He saw a brief glimpse of blue in the air, and knew his aim was almost true. All of a sudden, a blue glow swung at him. The man ducked into a combat roll to avoid, only to be punched in the chest by a fist as big as his head, causing him to lose his footing. The fist that struck him cracked the metal frame the man was wearing and he was knocked back several feet. He laid there belly up in the dirt. He dropped his AR. The thumps and thuds were upon him. Above him, the ugly, split-jawed, face of the Elite looked down at him. It had turned off Its cloak. Its mouth parted open revealing multiple layers of razor-sharp teeth. Like a small shark, it's black, dead eyes stared down hatefully and hungrily. It growled and clicked at the soldier beneath its feet.

It wanted a challenge from this man. In its right arm, it held a glowing blue blade, and it was ready to strike, whilst its left arm held its plasma repeater. The UNSC Spartan III on the ground thought to himself, "No way in hell am I going to let it end like this! I've gone way too goddamn far!" As the creature leaned in for a close stab, Lieutenant Aeden Thermopa acted quickly. He pulled out one of his combat knives and thrusted it at the right side of the monger's face while simultaneously juking right to avoid the searing blue Energy sword. Having had a brief chance to react, the alien released a high pitched screamed at Aeden. It quickly turned around and fired its plasma repeater at Rosenda and Rafi, causing them to duck and cover. Aeden halted the Elite in its tracks by charging at it in the short distance between them. The alien dropped its plasma repeater. "Why was this vermin not dead?" It thought. While they were locked in arms, both creatures exchanged blows. Right when the Elite was about to swing its plasma sword again, Aeden jumped back and reached for the pistol on his hip. He squeezed off a few rounds, shooting at its face, grazing it. Once it was grazed by the bullet it reacted and lunged at him, but the Headhunter Spartan was ready. He ducked under the Elite's blade, and skipped back a few meters, completely ignoring the pain in his gut and chest. Throwing away his now empty pistol, he drew his second combat knife and held one in each hand, reverse grip. He then taunted the bastard alien.

"Come on, you split-jaw! Give me a good fight" He spat.

Aeden knew the Elites couldn't resist a warrior's challenge, especially one from a supposedly "inferior" being. The pursuing bipedal alien, accepting the challenge, clicked something inaudible in its language and attacked. It swung its two lean arms wildly trying to hit him, but Aeden evaded, combining the concoction of experience, adrenaline, and sheer survival instinct. His boxy frame, which was widened by his SPI armor, creaked and groaned with every movement. Numb and drained from his injuries, Aeden resisted the every painful urge to slow, and dodged the Zealot. Aeden was waiting for the opportune time to strike. The Elite Zealot was becoming increasingly furious, "This human should be dead," it thought, "I'm the one that shot him." Aeden's stomach was screaming. He had severe burns from the plasma round that sideswiped him. His gut hurt him every time he moved, but with pure fury and focus, he fought through it. He was more hellbent on not dying, than making sure Elite died. As one of Aeden's favorite combat knives was sliced off at the hilt, like a hot blade through butter during their dance of death, he didn't mind, as he only needed one knife for the weak spot. Aeden just had to bide his time until the alien uncovered it.

There it was, the opening the soldier was waiting for. The lack of padding between its ribs, signature of the Zealots. The hesitation in the Elite's movements was becoming apparent. A few moments had passed as the two skipped around. It was feeling tired after it wasted it's energy in a blind and furious charge. The alien overextended for a stab, leaving it wide open. Aeden promptly stabbed it in its left side, then with his right hand, struck a gunshot wound on the Elite's face. The Elite, however, turned towards him, blind to the knife wound, and with its eyes burning with rage, it reached for Aeden and grabbed him by the throat with superhuman strength. The heated Elite hoisted him up off his feet in pure anger. Stunned at the creature's speed, Aeden left his blade in the creature's side and was helpless as the alien pulled him face to face. It's two beady little eyes peered at him, through his helmet. Aeden knew it intended to deal a finishing blow. With he blue energy sword hoisted, it clicked something with its scaly and leathery mandibles. Aeden could only guess as to what it said. Most likely "Enjoy the afterlife, heretic." Aeden had something to respond with.

"Aeden!" Rafi yelled.

"Lieutenant. I'm trying to get a clean shot." Said Rosenda, aiming her SAW, after loading her injured comrades onto the barely repaired Hog.

"Go to hell!" Aeden choked at the Alien.

With that, he kicked the alien in its stab wound, right on the knife that was lodged in its abdomen. It recoiled in agony, and dropped the soldier. Pain spilled through Aeden's own belly, as he landed on his back. The numbness retired behind the fiery burns of his plasma wound. Adrenaline gone, Aeden almost fell unconscious, but he again he resisted, fighting to stay awake. He noticed the Elite, writhing and screeching in the dirt a few meters away. Aeden crawled upward, unsteadily rising to his feet. He limped toward the Alien, which was gripping its side. The knife, hilt and all, was fully lodged in the monger's side. Aeden now had the Alien's own glowing blade in his hand. The blue light reflected off of the Elite's face, revealing a facade of anger, pain, and fear. Fear it hadn't felt in years, fear that it never thought it would feel when facing humans. However, Aeden didn't notice that the Zealot had grabbed Aeden's AR. With what little energy Aeden had, he lurched backward, toward the Elite's Repeater.

They both aimed at each other. Standoff. Aeden's visor, which hung over his eyes, displayed an image of a male human body on the HUD. The abdomen of the generic male human image was highlighted in bright red, with a small triangular alert saying Aeden should get medical attention ASAP. "No shit." He grumbled at the message. He looked through his sunglass-like visor, past the dirty, war-torn town, and past the deserted nature of the tree covered, hilly landscape, and stared into the amber sky. The sun had just finally fully risen, and the day was young. The plasma repeater still zeroed directly on the Elite.

"Aeden, a Pelican is on the way! We need to go!" Rafi yelled.

"No, go on without me. I need to make sure the nuke goes off. You guys go on ahead. Get the wounded far away from here!" Aeden threw off his helmet, revealing a light-skinned, brown haired, hazel eyed, angular face. "I want these fuckers all to myself."

"Yes sir." Rafi said, in a sad and defeated tone.

"But…" Rosenda tried to interject.

"No, he's in one of his...moods. We have to leave him be." Rafi said with a tear seeping down his cheek.

They drove the repaired Hog, with the injured, away from Aeden, the town, and the AA Battery which was located in the center of the colony town. A few minutes later, Rafi's hog pulled in through the makeshift path in the forest. They reached the LZ and one Pelican VTOL remained. A lone soldier hopped out, it was the one that had radioed Rafi earlier.

"Where's the Lieutenant?" He asked.

"He stayed behind." Rafi stated bluntly.

"Shame, alright, quickly get the wounded on board. The nuke detonates in five minutes."

"Understood." Rosenda said, already carrying Kat and dragging Shea.

Rafi looked up into the sky, and simply whispered "Why?"

A breeze fell upon the beach. The trees and undergrowth were rustling vigorously.

* * *

The fully loaded Pelican took off and flew up into the sky. They headed towards the same airbase they launched from, in order to evacuate the remaining military personnel of Lazarus Prime.

Back near the AA Battery… Aeden was standing still. Staring at the sunrise, accepting his fate. He looked at the injured monger, lying on the ground in front of him. Still pointing the human weapon at Aeden.

"Well you big bastard, looks like we'll both live to see the nuclear fire...Kinda glad I didn't kill you yet." The Elite clicked it mouth in response. Aeden chuckled. "Drop my gun, it has no ammo anyway."

The Elite, utterly defeated, bleeding out on the ground and groaning in pain, could only watch as the human limped towards him. The Human broke out into full blown laughter as he lowered the yellow energy blade near the Monger's neck.

"So tell me, unworthy opponent, where are the rest your buddies?" The human said with a sickly grin.

It didn't take long for Aeden to finish off any Covenant that posed a threat to the nukes. They more or less went straight to him, guided by their misguided religion. Aeden killed them as quickly as he could, either by shooting them in one of several weak-spots in their armor, with the plasma gun he stole, or stabbing them with the blue plasma blade he stole, which was many times more efficient than his beautiful Ka-Bar knives. Soon though, the Covenant that wanted to fight, were dead, and the ones that wanted to run, fled. After returning to the Elite that Aeden spared, he noticed a trail of blue blood leading toward the forest. Picking up his empty rifle, which the injured Monger had dropped, he walked over to the injured Zealot. Smacking it in it's facial wound which rested in its equivalent of a cheek, with the butt of his rifle. Picking it up in a choke-hold, Aeden turned its ugly head towards the spires. He then mumbled something to the Elite in its ear hole. "I'm ready, are you?"

The nukes went off with a blinding flash. The AA battery and the town were engulfed around the detonation. The heat felt good at first to Aeden, but it quickly became unbearable. Then Aeden's vision went dark.

* * *

- ** _Author's Notes_** :

Hello all,

Thank you for taking the time to read my third chapter. Chapter 6 is in the works and will be complete by this weekend. Midterms just ended for me, but it'll still be difficult for me to continue writing, but I will do the best I can.

If you are interested in the story I am trying to tell, show your support by leaving a helpful comment or review, and thank you for all the helpful comments I've received so far.

Thanks,

KILLERm12


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: ...We Rise,

Fires burned bright in all directions. Yellow, orange, and red tendrils licked and poked everything within view. The smell of burnt wood and flesh stung his nostrils. The screams of thousands tore through his ears. He saw three figures in the distance through the flames. Although distorted in view from the heat of the flames, he could tell who they were. Two figures were on their knees: one female, one male. The third figure, a shade, a living shadow, towered above them. The apparition had four mandibles in its mouth, and a sickly blue blade in its arm. A broken, helpless voice cried out, while the corporeal spectre beheaded the kneeling figures.

* * *

2104 hours, January 18, 2552

1 AU from Atlas, Titan System, Outer Territories,

~20,050 LY from Earth

He woke up in nothing but a hospital gown, a cold sweat drenching the blue cloth. He was in a large white room filled with several other beds in two rows. He was in the corner near the exit. Each bed held another casualty. Groans, and screams of pain of unfortunate men littered Aeden's ears. He crept upward, his bandaged abdomen, numb. His stomach and leg were wrapped in thick bandages. One of the nurses, who looked vaguely familiar to him, noticed noticed Aeden stirring.

"Oh good, you're awake. I was beginning to think you'd never wake up."

"Wait, what do you mean? Where am I!?" Aeden's voice croaked as the words escaped his mouth. "Am I dead?"

"Oh no, sorry, I should give you the rundown. Your men brought you here after they saved you…" The nurse began to speak.

"Wait, what? How?" Aeden aggressively yelled. He was dumbfounded.

"I don't know the specifics sir. I was only told that you were found by your comrades before the evacuation." The nurse was startled at his intensity.

'This is fuckin' weird. I don't remember returning to the platoon. I remember watching the nuke explode...I shouldn't be alive.' Aeden thought to himself. 'Ok, relax, now's not the time to get excited. For now just roll with it.' Aeden took a deep breath.

"Ok, answer me this ma'am, where the hell am I? I was...unconscious... during the ride up here."

"Oh, umm, ok. We're aboard the UNSC Arms of Ares. An M-class carrier. We are docked in the Titan System's hidden docking station. The bridge is preparing the ship for a Slipspace jump tomorrow. We're heading back to the sol system."

"Ok, that's good news. Uh...How come I can't feel my stomach?"

"Well. You can't feel anything because we injected you with about 20 mg of morphine based anesthetic. You had really bad 3rd degree burns on almost all of your abdomen. It left your skin and internal organs in a huge mess. You're lucky it was an indirect hit."

"Isn't 20 a lot?"

"Well...We did have to perform a lengthy four hour surgery on you to correct the damage. You were lucky it wasn't bad enough that we'd need to use stem cell grafts or cloned tissue. We also had to treat you for minor radiation sickness too, which was odd."

'Makes sense to me.' Aeden thought.

"..As for your leg, it wasn't as bad, but it was scraped by some hot shrapnel. You slept for a full day after. All in all, you should make a full recovery. Although, you might not feel much in your stomach anymore as the nerves are severely damaged." The slight peppiness leaked from the nurse.

'Wait my leg?' Aeden thought. It took him a second to understand what he heard. He looked down at his bandaged leg. 'Shrapnel? Fuck. I guess I'll have to deal with this too. I guess I'm fortunate to still be breathing.'

Aeden, taking in everything, just stared into space, thinking, unable to form words. The nurse, noticing his silence, turned and adjusted the soldier's IV fluid bag. Aeden's thoughts began to solidify, while she proceeded to shut down the unneeded life-support system. Snapping back into it, he looked up towards the nurse. Something returned to his mind.

"You were in my orphanage." He stated simply, not looking at the nurse. "You were roomed in the end of the building, for a year before a family took you off-world."

"Oh, I thought you looked familiar! What's your name again? Something with an 'A'...?"

"Aeden."

"Right, you were the really quiet one that slept near the window of your room. You never really spoke to other kids in your room... or me... or anyone for that matter." Her garrulous energy radiated through every word. She was excited she found someone from her homeworld. He did look familiar to her as well. He had forgotten her name and never asked for it, but she became so excited she didn't even realize.

"I wasn't really the talkative type. It's a shame we'd see each other again under such circumstances." His coolness chilled her radiance. He didn't much care for forced conversation (especially while drugged up on a hospital bed in skimpy hospital gowns). His patience was growing thin. He needed to figure out what the hell happened to him.

"Oh, yeah, this does stink. As far as re-introductions go." Her mind trailed for a moment. 'I did see him naked for a bit too.' She thought, chuckling internally. "So what happened after our homeworld got...uh...how did you get into the marines?" Wrong question.

"It's a long story." He sighed. "So I'll give you the quick version. The Covenant invade, the Covenant kill. They slaughter millions for a sick religious code, conquering planet after planet, burning each until it's nothing but glass and ashes...And after hearing the echoes of a trillion dead souls, I was conscripted to a branch of the UNSC that would allow me to return the favor...You're lucky you left when you did." He said coldly.

"Oh."

"I'm not a marine by the way. I'm a Spartan."

She was quiet after that. She remembered hearing the news of their shared homeworld being assaulted by the Covenant ten years prior. She didn't believe it at first, and when she eventually came to terms, she moved the information to the back of her mind. There was an awkward silence. She didn't even comprehend that the man she was nursing was a Spartan.

Aeden took this moment to calm himself, then suddenly looked up and blurted. "When can I see my platoon? When can I go back in action?" He stared into the attractive, blond, and slender nurse's blue eyes with urgency. Noticing his intense stare, and taken aback by his sudden outburst, she turned away. Her positive energy all but erased, a somber thought came to her mind. The thought that this man had no intention to wait and heal, and would rather jump right back into the meat-grinder.

"Umm..." Valera mumbled.

"Lieutenant!" A booming voice erupted from the doorway.

"Colonel Williams! Glad to see you sir." Aeden tried to sit up to salute.

"At ease soldier." Said the Colonel, rolling in on an automated wheelchair. He was just as bandaged up as Aeden. The Colonel wheeled to the edge of the bed. Turning to the nurse he said "Can you step out for a bit Valera? The LT and I need to have a word."

'Valera, that's her name!' Aeden thought.

"Umm...sure, yeah, ok." Valera replied meekly.

"Good, see you later." The graying, middle aged Colonel said. She walked out, still wondering about Aeden's mental condition. "Don't let that one's outward appearance fool you, she may be young, but she's as sharp as a monomolecular blade. She reminds me of my eldest granddaughter. Ah I miss my grandchildren." He looked down at Aeden now. "Now Aeden, as I understand it, your injuries shouldn't hinder your combat performance in the future, am I right? Or do you need another day off?"

"No, I'm ready NOW, sir, the damage isn't life altering."

"Good, and drop the sir, there's no need for formalities here. Not this late in the war."

"How was the evacuation? Are the people of the planet safe?" Aeden asked.

"Yes, the evacuation completed while you were out cold. Not gonna lie. If it wasn't for you leading the remains of the invasion yesterday, then we'd all be dead."

"Thank you sir, I mean, just, thanks." Aeden replied, remembering to be less formal.

"This is what brings me here. Your assault yesterday worked better than command ever dreamed. Unbeknownst to you and the men, command considered it suicide mission. So what you did was no small achievement. Although I'm assuming you worked this out since your an old Headhunter." The Colonel took a breath. "Point is, I'm here to tell you that you've been promoted to the rank of Captain.

"Really, me a Captain?" Aeden was stunned. "That means I get to command a whole Company."

"I pulled a few strings. I need you to command a ship Aeden, only temporarily."

"What? You can't be serious sir? A ship?" Aeden's head perked, and his smile fell.

"Yes, I'm serious. Now listen carefully, there are some more details you need to know about." He listened intently as the Colonel spoke. "As command predicted, we shook the hornet's nest with our activity here in the Titan System. Three whole Covenant Battle Groups are now pouring out of the Centaurus and Norma arms to take control of this system. Hence the evacuation. However, what wasn't told was that command want to set a trap for the Covenant." The Colonel took an exaggerated breath. "Command wants us to plant an experimental black hole bomb..."

"What? A black hole...bomb? How's that possible?"

"I am, and the egg-heads said we should test it, as opposed to setting a hundred HAVOK nukes near the Covenant's projected Slipspace entry...And since you're a Captain now, and since we need a crew to drop the bomb, I was hoping you'd volunteer to lead the mission."

"Woah, I, uh..." Aeden was quiet for a moment in thought, and inhaled. "Hoorah sir!"

"Wouldn't expect any other answer. The details are as follows. Take the frigate that's docked here in the station, along with a skeleton crew, a few I'll assign, the rest I'll leave up to you. Then, wait 48 hours, drop the bomb, and haul ass outta system...You probably won't like to hear this last part though. The downside is... you can't jump to earth after delivery. For obvious reasons. They'll track your slipspace trail. But if you time everything correctly, and make multiple jumps to different systems, you'll be fine."

"Understood sir."

"Take care of yourself out there 'Captain' Thermopa."

"Thank you. Of course Colonel." A meager smile arose on his face as he suddenly realized he'd see action sooner rather than later, with the catch that he'd have to lead again. Valera, who had been peeking around the door, eavesdropping, noticed his smile. On her face, a sad frown appeared, a sorrowful contrast to the mug of the Spartan on the bed.

"One more thing, after this, you probably won't be seeing me for a while. I've been assigned to a position outside the Arcturus Stream, near a planet called Shanxi. Apparently they have been receiving some strange readings in that region of space. Sounds cushy to me though, the Covenant never have activity in that area. Hopefully I can get an easy promotion to General there."

"Good for you sir. Good luck."

"Good luck to you Spartan. You're gonna need it."

* * *

Two hours had passed. Taking full advantage of being cleared by the medbay, Aeden was walking down the clean, gray, well-lit hallways of the Carrier. He did not step into the station, except to travel back and forth to his frigate, as he did not see a point as the station was being prepared for demolition upon the evacuation. He reached the nearest elevator. Stepped in, and was quickly transported to the UNSC Arms of Ares's hangar bay. The screeching of fighters, grinding of metal from the workshops, and the bustling footsteps of the frantic soldiers, engineers, and pilots slapped Aeden's eardrums. The smell of fuel and sweat flew into his nostrils. The bay itself was 40m wide, 15m high and 250m long, less than a quarter the length of the entire ship, and this was the starboard side hangar bay. The starboard bays held more than 100 spacecraft, as well as spare engines, fuel, and other heavy equipment. Each hangar bay exit, was divided into three zones divided by sliding doors (a safety precaution to stop air from escaping during takeoff).

Aeden commenced walking down a designated walkway, along the wall, away from the chaos. His objective: search for his platoon and any reserve soldiers to commit to the bomb delivery mission. As he did he heard a strong ringing in his ears. 'What is this?' He wondered. A migraine formed within his cranium. 'Not again' Aeden thought. He stopped and stared around at the walls in the hangar. The people and aircraft in hangar began to move, warp, and sway as his vision blurred. The ringing became louder and stronger. Aeden's confused thoughts were drowned out by the ringing. He hastily looked around, everyone was going about there business like nothing was wrong. 'Why won't it stop?' He stood there, hunched over, hands squeezing his ears. It was odd, the only pain he felt was in his head, but he felt a strange energy running itself through his veins, like a fire coursing his arteries, and it didn't hurt. In fact, it felt good. But the pain in his head grew even more and his vision blurred to nothing but white, and as he collapsed he saw the steel at his feet shake, yet there were no planes and no machinery nearby. Aeden fell to his knees, his hands desperately crushing his ears to no avail. All of a sudden, the ringing stopped, but the energy lingered. Still on his knees, he stared blankly at his palms as his vision returned. The veins on his hands and forearms were swollen as blood had rushed to them prior. 'Is that due to the radiation I received from the plasma or the nuke? Hope not. One thing is true though: That was one helluva headache.'

As if unfazed, Aeden continued to stride down the steel tarmac after his strange experience. Two navy men ahead were arguing, over the sound of spacecraft landing and taking off. The fact that they were arguing didn't bother Aeden, but what they were arguing about did.

"What? Are you sure?" The first said. Tall, lanky, and dark-skinned.

"Yes of course. I heard from the Colonel himself. Third generation Spartan III. Gamma Company, a cheap copy of the famous Spartans that they revealed in the beginning of the war. Aggressive and suicidal tendencies and all." The second stated. Tall, lanky, and pale in thick armor.

"That can't be right. If he's suicidal, he wouldn't be here. In fact, if he's survived this long, he's gotta be somewhat qualified."

"I don't know. They found him half dead yesterday after the evac mission." The pale one stated in a vindicated tone.

"Hey. Lay off man, if command says he's supposed to command, he's supposed to command! He's a Spartan, even if he's a cheaper version, he's still a damn Spartan and I trust him."

"Yeah, well I'm an ODST, and I don't trust him. Those damn Spartans are always spoiled with the best gear."

"Hey the man's a hero, show some respect. And didn't you just say he's a cheaper Spartan?"

"He's a creepy reminder of ONI's sketchy ideas. And they still get better equipment than us."

"Dude, be quiet, it can been worse...and how do you even know so much about the Spartans?"

"I have a friend in ONI. I heard a lot of shit that the spooks do, and it ain't good for grunts like us."

"Dude, you are such a pessimist."

"I'm a realist... And I'm not looking forward to tomorrow. Launching an experimental bomb, then running for our lives, under a man who will gladly die in a suicide mission than fight to survive, does not make me happy."

"Duncan Bismarck, ID 15698011!" Aeden had interjected, while he directed his voice towards the pessimistic soldier. "You should be looking forward to tomorrow, it's gonna be our last day in this system."

"Yeah, we got the news. Another star system lost eh?" Duncan said.

"Duncan, shut up. I don't even know why I started talking to you." Said the other guy in the argument. "It's like you want to die. And how the hell did your ODST squad get assigned to this Lieutenant's op?" Shouted the dark navy man.

"One big-assed coincidence I suppose." Shrugged Duncan.

"Duncan," Aeden snapped, now a little perturbed, "listen to me carefully. And listen good. Even though you're an ODST, I am your commanding officer, and there is no room for unwise comments on my operation. Understood?"

"Yes." Duncan straightened up and saluted, now defeated.

"Yes what?" Aeden breathed in, puffing his chest slightly.

"Yes Captain!" Duncan said with a salute, after noticing Aeden's new Captain sigil.

"Good. Now get some rest. We leave at 0430 hours." Aeden turned to the dark soldier. "You, go return to your squad. Ask around, I'm looking for volunteers on my mission. And if you want to join me...please keep an eye on Mr. Duncan here."

Both said yes sir, and walked off.

* * *

2351 hours, January 18, 2552

Atlas, Outer Territories,

~20,050 LY from Earth

Simulated night fell quickly on the docking station. Aeden was slowly walking around, having discussed facts about tomorrow to most of his soldiers, and was heading to his bed. Only a few minutes beforehand, Aeden had located all of his platoon's living marines. Consoling some, thanking some, and conversing with others. Rafi, Rosenda, and the marines that followed him to be precise. Aeden and Rafi were reveling in their two year history in the Headhunters together, remembering old missions that had a much higher chance of success than the mission the previous day.

Of course, the discussion then veered towards yesterday's events. At first, the pair discussed their almost useless droid reinforcements, and they both agreed the previous day could've been much worse. However, there was an itch, in the form of a question, in the back of Aeden's skull that needed to be scratched.

"Rafi, how did you guys find me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean after the nukes were set, how did you guys haul me out of there before they went off?"

"'A', what are you talking about, you met with us at the LZ."

'What the fuck is going on?' Aeden thought. "Oh, right, must've hit my head or something. Thanks Rafi. I'll see you on the frigate." Aeden sighed. 'Just roll with it...for now.'

"Yessir, el Capitan." Rafi quipped.

After that conversation, Aeden didn't have to walk far before locating and then conversing with Rosenda's squad. None of them were assigned to Aeden's new mission, however, having seen their combat prowess first-hand, Aeden couldn't resist asking them to volunteer. Rosenda, Kat (whose head was bandaged on the right side), CPL Philips, and Roberto obliged immediately. Shea wanted to volunteer as well, but his injuries were too severe to heal in time. Rosenda was indifferent to see Aeden again, but congratulated him on his promotion, and didn't mind the opportunity to work on a new frigate. Kat oogled and stared at Aeden the whole time. Phil and Roberto remained silent out of respect for the newly promoted Captain, and only spoke when spoken to.

After a few minutes, Aeden turned away from the barracks and began to head toward the medical ward where he was technically supposed to stay for the 'night,' even though he was cleared by Colonel Williams. As he turned his head around a corner, a familiar face knocked into his. It was Valera. The nurse from earlier. She was running away from the med ward, with tears on her face.

"Hey, ow, aren't you that nurse from earlier?" He said as he rubbed his recently smacked nose.

"Yeah, and you're that stupid soldier who thinks he can fight while still injured." She replied, tears still running down her face, jumping to her feet after having fallen.

"Yeah, and I feel fine."

"That's because of the drugs you idiot." Anger and tears spilled from her face.

"I am a Spartan, I think I can take it. Hey...are...are you all right?"

"No! I can't believe the Colonel would just let you walk out like that. He's an idiot, and so are you. You should be in the ward for a week recovering from the burns on your abdomen!" She berated.

"Jeez, why are you so mad? I'm just another soldier, it's what I do."

"That's not it. You were one of my patients, and therefore you should be under my care until you are better. Its...just...Why are you so comfortable about throwing yourself into battle?"

"You won't like the answer to that question. But...hey...hey, why are you crying?"

"For your information, it's because one of my patients just died!..." Her voice cracked. Then her voice sank, to an almost whisper. "And I couldn't do anything about it..." Now she was talking under her breath. "Maybe if I applied more anesthetic, or if I removed the infected leg, or if I was faster in surgery, or if..."

He placed a hand on her shoulder, she responded by using her hands to cover her face as she balled.

"Listen. I'm sorry to hear about a good man passing. It's happening all too often these days. But, if it was his time, it was his time. There was nothing you could do. You need to let it go." In his mind, he thought 'Ugh, this is a job for Rafi. I'm not good at this shit.'

She turned towards him, and pressed her face against his shoulder, and continued to cry. He placed an arm around her back to console her. She cried for about a minute and a half. Her head was stayed buried in his chest.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" She said, punching him with each word. "Why would the Colonel give you a mission right after you got injured so badly?"

"How'd you know that?"

"I listened in on your conversation with Colonel Williams."

"Why?"

"Cause I care about ALL of my patients."

"Umm, Valera, how long have you been a nurse?"

"This is my first month."

"Ah...gotcha...umm...Why are you so uncomfortable with me leaving the medbay so early for another mission?"

Normally she wouldn't mind a soldier being let out early, if they were healthy, but his hunger for battle left her surprised, strangely intrigued, but mostly sad. She could see the animal in his eyes.

Her silence was his answer. So he began to walk her back to the med ward. She just moped there next to him, staring at him. Completely forgetting why she was running anyway.

"Doesn't matter specifically, like I said, I care about my patients."

"Hey Valera," an idea popped into Aeden's head, "why don't you join me on my frigate tomorrow? Would that make you feel better? Then you'll be able to see to it that one of your patients is taken care of. We could use a ship medic in training." He didn't know why he was trying to help this girl. It was something about the way she openly spoke her mind and exposed her feelings to him. Maybe it was they way she cared about her patients. Maybe it was because she helped perform the surgery on him and he felt he owed her. He couldn't pinpoint it.

"Sure, that...might work." She whispered slowly.

* * *

0102 hours, January 19, 2552

Atlas, Outer Territories,

~20,050 LY from Earth

Preparations for the next day's events were in full swing. The whole docking station, a large donut shaped structure orbiting Atlas, was stricken with a serious case of hardly controlled chaos. In the hangar bays of the UNSC Arms of Ares there was a constant influx of VTOLs, fighters, and other spacecraft, as they landed and were rushed to the backs of each hangar, drained of fuel, weapons and ammo removed, wings folded, and ID tags catalogued. These ships transported as many remaining personnel and valuable assets they could from the docking station and local Titan system, into the Arms of Ares. This was all due to a certain Alien force, that decided to send their reinforcements in two hours earlier to the Titan system.

As for the innards of the station, the med bays, barracks, command centers, and even the kitchens were promptly wiped of all information and cleared of anything valuable. Aeden, while navigating the fray, couldn't fully run with his injuries. 'Valera was right.' He thought to himself. 'I was functioning on anesthesia alone.' Nonetheless, he was running around from room to room, helping out, or ordering people into either his frigate or the Arms of Ares. The nonessential personnel and important equipment boarded the Ares first, while the officers boarded second, however, Aeden and his soldiers, including some designated equipment, went in the opposite direction, boarding their frigate, which was named the UNSC Omaha.

Instinctively, Aeden looked out the window of Omaha's bridge (which was a dark-gray room which held about ten officers, about 30 meters long, and eight meters high), into the surrounding space around the station. His heart sank. He saw the telltale purple glow of the Covenant Fleet a couple million miles away.

"Shit! Pull the fuel lines now!...And someone tell the techies to hurry up with that stupid bomb!" Aeden yelled to anyone nearby. Luckily, Chief Engineer Dignus heard him, and thus Rafi relayed the orders.

"This is not good Aeden, this is not good!" Rafi said after passing down Aeden's orders. "The Covenant are here way too damn early! You think we can still drop the bomb effectively?"

"We continue our mission regardless. The Colonel is smart enough to not make a direct jump to earth at this point. Let's just hope the Covenant don't decide to take potshots at us before we can leave the bomb."

"Understood." Rafi spoke to some other officers.

"Roy, connect to the ship's computer and figure out the Covenant's projected path." Aeden yelled out loud, expecting a response.

"Yes sir." Roy said, holographic image popping up from a console and elevating to eye level. "Connecting…"

"Ensign Padwai!" Aeden continued.

"Yessir?" Replied a small, mousy gentlemen.

"Radio in to the techies, figure out their eta. Light a fire under their asses, 'cause we need to leave."

"Yes sir!" Padwai's sprung into action, fiddling with his microphone.

"Sir!" It was Roy

"Yes?" Aeden replied.

"Path projected, ready to display estimated Covenant path."

"Show it!"

The large, window, about four meters wide and one meter high, glowed as the Heads Up Display showed a little yellow trail leading straight for the docking station.

"Well shit." Aeden croaked.

"Saw that coming." Rafi stated, slightly depressed.

"Captain, the Technicians are done, the bomb is ready!"

"Thank you Padwai." Aeden breathed in deeply. "All right men, plot a course that intercepts the Covenant path, it's time to drop the bomb."

A few minutes passed. Thankfully everyone did their jobs, and both the UNSC Arms of Ares and the UNSC Omaha were stocked, fueled, and ready. They began to breach the depths of space. Aboard the Omaha, the hull began to shake violently as it finally exited the locks of the station. At this point the Ares had pulled out of the station, and was entering a blind Slipspace jump.

All the occupants of the frigate Omaha were unfazed in the turbulence, most had suffered a lot worse than a short, bumpy ex-filtration like this. Their real concerns were swirling about in their minds, seemingly creating small, near visible maelstroms of emotion. Now, the black hole bomb was slowly being delivered out the airlock. It floated peacefully into space. Rafi, current head of the Omaha's engineering, set up the timed detonation. Arriving on the small bridge of the frigate, he gave Aeden the 'ok' for detonation. Aeden sent his orders down the steps of the hierarchy. The Omaha sped away at 2% the speed of light.

The Titan Star System was once a series of vibrant mining colonies, now it was literally being erased by the large plasma weapons of the purple and curvy Covenant warships. Atlas was now a small burning speck amongst the stars. The planet was dead, its resources extinguished, its population incinerated, its fight over.

Once they were a safe distance away, near the outskirts of the Titan system, the Omaha came about, and aimed its guns at any Covenant that decided to take any long shots at them. This was not by choice, as the techies begged the Omaha to record data from the black hole bomb. Surely enough, Roy began warning of incoming plasma rounds from across the system. Each round was about 10 meters wide, and could deal serious damage to the unshielded frigate. The Omaha was not defenseless, however, it was a nimble craft, with defensive guns and countermeasures that could disrupt the magnetic fields of the plasma. The Omaha dodged up, down, left, and right, relative to the orientation of the crew inside, spewing lead and missiles in all directions like a firecracker. Then, it happened. The bomb detonated, right in front of the approaching Elites, about midway through the star system. Expecting to just see everything be either enveloped in darkness or disintegrate, the crew of the Omaha were sorely disappointed when they noticed a flashy light show. What they didn't know, but Roy, the Omaha's computer, and the ship's sensors did, was that the six, hexagonally placed, HAVOK nukes that the bomb consisted of, worked perfectly. However, the theoretical math behind this weapon was flawed, thus the bomb destroyed most of the Covenant ships, save for a handful. The star system was spared, save for Atlas's moon, which fractured into several pieces, crashing into Atlas itself, obliterating the surface, and a few more Covenant ships around that area.

"Roy, get us out of here." Aeden stated.

"Yes sir."

That's now the second star system Aeden had to say goodbye to. This was the first one he had to attempted sacrifice. However, now he had a new duty, and he was not about to stand idly by and let another system, planet, or inch fall to the unholy Covenant, especially not Earth. As long as he stayed alive, nothing would stop him. A renewed fire rose within him. A fire brighter than the burning infernos of planets of the Titan System.

* * *

- ** _Author's Notes_** :

Hello all,

Thank you for taking the time to read my fourth chapter. Chapter 6 is in the works and will be complete by next weekend. I will try to write the most I can between work and my social life, however, college has started up again for me, it will be difficult for me to continue writing, but I will do the best I can.

If you are interested in the story I am trying to tell, show your support by leaving a helpful comment or review, and thank you for all the helpful comments I've received so far.

Thanks,

KILLERm12


	5. Chapter 5

C5 Through the Misery and Hurt

The shackles, always the shackles. First they tighten, then they stab, and then they sting. Wrapped around the hands and feet like venomous snakes. Sometimes they shock too. They always say the amperage is just under the lethal limit. Could be truth could be lies. Don't care either way. Still alive, somehow. Everything is blurry, so many injections, so many tests. So many eyes. Eyes peering into the soul. Always watching. Ears ringing, skin burning, nose bleeding. Looking down. What is that? A strip of fabric on my shoulder. There are letters. Words. Upside down, but I can still read them. It's a name. My name? What does it say? Too blurry. Damn. How many times will they render me unconscious? I lost count after forty. This is getting annoying.

These are the thoughts of a solitary man. A tortured soul with no faith. Trapped in blurred thoughts of hate and pain. Luckily for him, today is his last day of captivity.

He looked around with foggy eyes not knowing who he was or where he's from. Gazing around lazily, trying to gather in any clues from his surroundings. The strip of fabric on his shoulder that he had noticed, he reasoned, must've been a name tag. His vision was so piss-poor, however, he couldn't read it. Turning away from the name tag, he looked up at the room. It was large and dimly lit, save for a bright spotlight that shone directly upon him. He licked his severely dry and cracked lips, brief thoughts of freedom and comfort flashed across his eyes. Those thoughts were fleeting, however, as he saw figures moving around in the darkness. Each figure had a set of two eyes, save for one, in the back. Only one eye peered at the tortured soul.

All the eyes watched him closely as one of the figures, in the shape of a man, approached him. He felt another stab. Then darkness. The tortured man was now unconscious. The doctor that recently injected him spoke into a small tablet.

"This is the experimentation of Subject 121, injections numbers 49 and 56 are failures. 49 renders the subject weak and delirious, and number 56 leaves the subject unconscious. No notable rise in brain-wave, psychic, or psionic activity. Initiating shot of adrenaline to prevent possible brain damage."

The same doctor put a needle through the unconscious man's chest and he suddenly came back to life with a gasp.

"Vitals returning to acceptable range. Awaiting final approval for last test of today's trials." The doctor turned to the man with one eye. The one eyed man, who was wearing an eye patch over his left eye, had thinning gray hair coating his head, and a gray five o'clock shadow across his face. His piercing black eye looked into the doctor's soul. The one-eyed man nodded, revealing a thick trail of scarring over the left side of his face. No words were exchanged, but none needed to be. "Understood. Initiating the trial or serum number 86." The doctor turned to a terminal a few feet away from the experimentee. Meanwhile, a small mousy man, approached the one eyed man in the background.

"Mr. Petrovsky, sir. We have information on the survivors of the Atlas trial sir. There were more survivors than anticipated." The mousy man stated.

"Excellent." Oleg Petrovsky, the one-eyed man, exclaimed calmly. "Leave the report on my desk. I'll see to it later." His calm voice continued. The mousy man nodded.

"Yes sir. Right away sir." With that he turned and strolled off.

Oleg focused his attention back on the experimentee, subject 121. The doctor had already injected the subject with a new syringe containing a green, bile like substance. The reaction was instant.

I'm awake? Everything, is, more, clear. At least more clear than before. Pain, still all over, especially in head. Migraine. Why am I still alive. My name, what was it again? Down there! Name-tag! I can read it now. J-Jack, S-sub-subject one-two-one. Jack: Subject 121. No that's not my name. That's not my name! That's not my name! I am not Jack! I'm no one's subject! I remember. My name is...! My name is...! My name is Randall! Randall Ezno!

Those were the re-surging thoughts of the experimentee, the subject 121, Randall Ezno. The doctor, along with a few colleagues who entered the room right before the last injection were stunned. Randall was awake, and he was screaming bloody murder. However, the doctors attention was not on Randall, instead it was on the terminal. "Oh my, the subjects eezo activity is beyond anything we could've predicted. This is marvelous! There are also several huge spikes in biotic act..." Something caught his eye. "This is unexpected, the subject is...glowing." Randall was indeed glowing. He was glowing a dark purple. The dull purple light centered around his head and his eyes. Like an aura. Randall's screaming increased in intensity. His arms showed signs of strain, as if they found a purpose in life.

"Gamma Radiation detected...just what is going on?" The doctor said aloud, visibly shaken. "Is the subject exciting the air molecules around him? So much so that they glow and release radiation?"

The shackles that held Randall down began to groan. They warped and bent and screeched. Randall was pulling his arms inward, bending the steel. One of the doctor's colleagues attempted to inject Randall with a sedative. Running at the stationary Randall, the colleague arrived within a meter of him before being thrown back with the force of a hurricane. The man flew back into some equipment with a smash and a few spine-tingling bone-cracking noises.

Randall's screaming began to calm down into a loud grunting. With two snaps, the shackles were broken, and Randall was free. There were two popping noises. Both like the crack of a whip. All the inhabitants of the room recoiled at the noise. Randall was gone, and there was a hole in the wall next to where he was imprisoned.

"Find him you idiots!" Oleg growled! From the remaining workers, there was a resounding "Yes Sir" in response.

"You!" He turned towards the first Doctor. "I thought you said the shackles we designed were able to hold up against possible spikes in psychic energy?" Oleg yelled angrily at the doctor, grabbing him by the throat and hoisting him up in the air.

"They were!...ack...the...subject...must've used...ack...his powers to force...himself out!"

"You're telling me, you designed faulty restraints that couldn't hold up against an expected increase in biotic strength?"

"We...didn't know...the subject...would have this much...of an...increase in power...ack."

The Doctor's eyes rolled to the back of his head. There was a small snapping noise as the Doctor's windpipe was crushed. Oleg released his grip. The Doctor plopped onto the floor. \

"Useless." Oleg scoffed. 'This is getting out of hand. There is too much invested in this. Not after the first experiment failed.'

Several explosions occurred in the background. Randall was rampaging. He destroyed anything in his path. People, and defenses alike. His purple aura, which circulated around his body at rapid speeds, formed a protective barrier around him. Nothing the security personnel had could penetrate it - tranquilizer and bullet alike. He was scouring bleach white corridors for some kind of exit or sign of where he was in the least. Instead he was met with a window that showed an amazing view. A view of an asteroid's surface, with a vibrant purple planet in the background, and a small - bowling ball sized - blue sun that emanated light on everything in the region. Randall didn't have time to enjoy it at all, cause in the corner of his view he noticed a large, warehouse like building. It was the hanger bay, and it was Randall's next target.

He sprinted down the hallways at astonishing speeds. Simply waving his hands at any man or woman in his way, they would either be swept aside by an unseen force, or would be eviscerated by that same force. A few minutes breezed by, and Tamostu reached the threshold of the hanger. His vibrant purple aura began to dim. Four men in a line, and two automated Gauss turrets attached to the ceiling stood in his way.

"Subject 121, stand down and come quietly. We will not ask you again." The first guard stated.

"I am not Subject 121. I have a name!"

"Stand down now!" Another guard yelled.

"Fuck you!" Randall yelled. His diminishing aura's fluctuations increased in frequency, and width. The serum the doctor injected previously was wearing off, Randall could feel it.

A piercing pain shot through Randall's right shoulder. One of the guards fired in response to Randall's shouting. 'An AP round?...shit.' Randall thought.

With a superhuman stride, Randall jerked his body to the right, gripping his shoulder with his left hand, and dodging as best as he could. The guards opened fire, as well as the turrets. The Turrets, dumb and blunt machines, could not keep up with Tamostu's rapid movement. The guards, helpless, fired at the approaching Randall. Randall leaped up with incredible strength, faster than the guards and turrets could keep up. The two turrets, while swiveling to reach the man with the aura, shot and destroyed each other as he passed in between them. Randall then pounced on one of the guards, the third from the left. With the glowing fist of his good arm, Randall crushed the skull of the guard. The two on the left aimed at Randall's current position and fired, but by that time, Randall had already jumped away, and they ended up killing their companion on the far right. Randall landed in between the last two guards. He punched one in the face and quickly rotated and grabbed the gun of the other, aiming it at the recently punched guard. The helpless, manipulated guard had already pulled the trigger on his weapon, thus killing his last ally. Randall ripped the weapon from the last guard's grip, whipped the weapon around, and bashed the last guard across the face. Ending him.

Randall's aura was long gone, but he now was home free. There were two shuttles in the hanger. Enough space for 14 people. Without a second thought, Randall ran into one of the shuttles' cockpits and, scraping his hazy mind, attempted to remember how to pilot craft like these. He got it running as quick as he could, and took off. Behind the levitating shuttle, one man stood steadfast behind it. A man with one eye. Calmly, he stood. Lifting his arm gracefully, he threw a round disc shaped object at the shuttle. It stuck to it with a magnetic clang. The shuttle left the the hanger, out of its long double door chute, escaping into the depths of space.

"Hmph. This...This is more costly than I could've imagined." Oleg said as he brushed one of the dead bodies of the guards with his foot. "Such a waste. Oh well, at least we can now see the long term effects of serum 86."

Oleg put a finger to his ear. He was wearing an earpiece, and someone was communicating with him on the other end of the call.

"Yes, I understand sir." Oleg continued. "If he draws too much attention to himself, we can activate the killswitch on him, bribe a few authority men, and pass it off as some mook on a rumbledrug. Then we can recover the body."

The voice on the other end spoke some more.

"Ok, yessir. Right away." Oleg ended the call.

He turned around and nonchalantly began to march back up the hallways. He scratched his chest to satisfy an itch. Underneath his hand were the images of the Eagle of the UNSC, and the Pyramid of ONI sitting separately on his officer's coat. And imprinted on the back of his hand was another symbol. It was an orange bull with its head down, or was it an orange three headed animal. The third symbol whatever it was it had central, elongated, black hexagon, that was broken in the bottom, and two orange broken-lines flanking the hexagon's sides. He eventually returned to his small, bleach-white, cube-like office, and sat down. He had work to do.

* * *

- ** _Author's Notes_** :

Hello all,

Thank you for taking the time to read my fifth chapter. Chapter 6 is in the works and all will be complete by next weekend. I will try to write the most I can between work and my social life, however, college has started up again for me, it will be difficult for me to continue writing, but I will do the best I can.

If you are interested in the story I am trying to tell, show your support by leaving a helpful comment or review, and thank you for all the helpful comments I've received so far.

Thanks,

KILLERm12


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